


Ice Bound Hearts

by kris_king_of_the_losers



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-03-17 02:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 62,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3512123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kris_king_of_the_losers/pseuds/kris_king_of_the_losers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edward Elric isn't exactly what you would call social. He's a figure skater at Amestris high and is content having only Sheska, Winry, and Alphonse, as his friends. Things change however when Maes Hughes befriends Edward. Edward now has a group of friends, but can he keep them? Someone is deliberately injuring the people in Edward's friend group, and Edward falls under suspicion due to the secrets that he's keeping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Encounters.

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea while I was out ice skating and it grew into a fullsized story. I've taken a few liberties with the characters, but I tried to keep them as close to canon as I could. The dialogue is a bit stunted and overall this could use Some more editing, but I was impatient to post it. Enjoy, and please let me know if you've spot any errors.

Edward loved ice skating. The speed that reduced the stands to a blur of color, and the moments where he left the ice in a jump made him feel invincible. Every time he was on the ice he never wanted it to end, for him there was nothing better than ice beneath his feet.

He was practicing his routine for the upcoming competition, which if he ranked high enough would put him in the state championships. He was planning on skating to the violin version of “Requiem for a Dream” which was currently blaring through the speakers of the rink. It was sad sounding song, but it was beautiful and made him want skate just as beautifully.

Edward started out skating backwards on one leg, before quickly dropping the leg and going into backwards crossovers. He swung around forward using his left leg and after a graceful loop, went into an attitude spin. While still in the attitude spin, he lifted his leg straight up behind his head and transitioned into a Biellmann spin. Edward then dropped his leg and once again skated backwards. Right as the song reached crescendo he launched himself into the triple loop and landed it going into the basic camel spin. He transitioned into backwards crossovers before twirling. Going onto one leg Edward launched himself into The Flip. Then as the music quieted he went into the triple loop. Skating out he went into a camel spin and gaining speed grabbed his right leg, transitioning into the doughnut spin. Then twirling out of it Edward went into a spit spin right as the music reached the second crescendo. Standing up on one leg he began the scratch spin and ended it, going into backwards crossovers. He stopped with a dramatic flourish as the music abruptly ended.

Edward smiled. He was breathing hard and his face was cold but he felt invincible. That was of course until he heard the whistles and jeers directed at him by a few players of the hockey team waiting outside the rink. Edward frowned and looked up at the clock. It was still five minutes until his slot on the rink was over, but he turned in the opposite direction to leave. He didn’t want to hear people insulting him for doing something he loved, especially not from a bunch of oversized muscle brained jocks.

When people heard that he was a figure skater they automatically tried to make him feel like shit, often times by calling him a girl. Edward didn’t take offense to being called a girl, seeing as all the women in his life could easily hand him his ass. However it pissed him off that people assumed that figure skating was something strictly for women. What he did was extremely hard; requiring perfect balance, flexibility, strength, and control over every part of his body.

Scowling Edward skated over to the edge of the rink where he’d left his water bottle and bag. He grabbed them and stepped out of the rink, walking carefully in his skates to a bench three feet away, a bench which was already occupied by two people. Edward’s mood darkened even further, all traces of euphoria from skating gone. Sitting on the edge of the bench as far away from the two hockey players as possible Edward unlaced his skates. He was about to take one off when the hockey player nearest to him scooted closer, the light reflecting harshly off of his glasses.

Edward sat up and looked at the bespectacled hockey player distrustfully. He was about to tell him to go away (in much cruder terms) when the players face melted into a goofy, love struck smile as he shoved his phone under Edward’s nose. Edward blinked and stared at the phone which was displaying a picture of a blonde haired green eyed girl, who smiled at the camera exasperatedly. Edward looked up completely confused. Why was the hockey player showing him pictures of, what Edward could only assume by his expression, his girlfriend?

The hockey player seemed to sense his confusion as he pulled the phone away and stuck out the hand not holding the phone.

“I’m Maes Hughes” he introduced, clearly waiting for Edward to shake his hand.

Edward complied grabbing his hand and giving it a small shake. “Edward Elric” he said in return still confused as to why Hughes had shown him the picture.

Hughes immediately dropped the serious expression he’d worn while introducing himself and went back to his goofy, lovesick smirk. “This is Gracia, my girlfriend. Isn’t she just the prettiest girl you’ve ever seen?” He asked in a completely besotted tone, practically wiggling with delight.

Edward wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but fortunately the hockey player on the other side of the bench rescued him from having to answer.

“Maes stop showing that damn picture around to every person you meet” he barked in an irritated tone looking up from what seemed to be a sketch pad. He had an equally irritated expression on his face, but his dark eyes revealed he wasn’t quite as irked as he appeared.

Hughes turned and looked back at the other hockey player. “But Roy” he whined childishly “she’s just so pretty I can’t help myself”

Edward may not have known Hughes, but he knew who “Roy” was. Roy Mustang was the captain of the hockey team and according to the majority of the school, a total player. While Edward didn’t know him well enough to confirm the last part, it was an indisputable fact that Mustang was captain of the hockey team. His name was always written for the six am slot that came after Edward’s four am slot.

Amestris high was the only school Edward knew of that had its own ice skating rink. Unfortunately the only times you could skate privately were before school hours, as after school it was open to all students as free skate. So instead of competing with the hockey players for the six am slot Edward just came in two hours earlier.

Edward sighed, relieved to be taken out of the conversation. He removed his skates, and then began wiping off the blades. In figure skating the blades were everything so the edges had to be kept sharp and rust free or the results could be crippling. Once Edward was done he put the guards on the blades then stuck the skates into his bag.

He was about to stand up when Hughes roped him back into the conversation. “You’re leaving already?” he asked incredulously with a slight whine in his voice.

Edward just gave him a blank look. Of course he was leaving, his slot was two minutes from being over and he never stayed to watch the hockey players. He’d much rather be in the library studying biochemistry and with it being almost three hours until class started, he had plenty of time to do just that.

“It’s Fullmetal we’re talking about; of course he’s not staying.” Mustang interjected as though he were explaining the obvious.

Edward narrowed his gold eyes. Fullmetal was what most people around school called him. He was well aware that he was socially inept, but Bradley Wrath (an upper classman and the current student council president) had decided that Edward was downright robotic and dubbed him Fullmetal. It had stuck much to Edward’s dismay, and never failed to piss him off.

“You’re a real bastard, Mustang” Edward said casually before standing up, flinging his bag over his shoulder, and walking off to the locker room.

* * *

 

When Edward walked into the locker room it was blissfully empty however that didn’t stop him from heading straight to the bathroom stalls after grabbing his clothes. He pulled off his training clothes, taking special care to make sure they didn’t catch on his right arm or left leg. They were prosthetic limbs, with machinery that took electrical pulses from the nerves, to move like a natural appendage and certain parts were fairly sharp. It was because of them that he could still skate after the accident that had cost him his limbs.

Edward put on his pants and a long sleeved, navy blue flannel, then after pulling on his gloves and boots, he left the stall. He put his bag into his locker and sighed tiredly as the adrenaline crash hit. Pulling his long blonde hair out of the disheveled bun, Edward walked over to one of the mirrors in front of the sink. He combed out his hair with his fingers and wished he’d remembered to bring his brush. His hair went down to the bottom of his shoulder blades and it was taking forever to get it untangled.

Once it was what could be considered brushed Edward pulled his hair back into a braid, leaving his chin length bangs to frame his face. Then grabbing his backpack he left the locker room.

* * *

 

Edward wandered through library, nodding hello to Sheska as he passed. She was a library aide with short brown hair and glasses that made her chocolate eyes seem too big for her face. She also happened to be one of his only friends that weren’t Winry or his brother, Alphonse.

Heading to the biochemistry section Edward grabbed the few books and sat down to read and take notes. Biochemistry was his favorite subject, however it wasn’t taught in school and way too many books were filled with errors. It was only because his foster mother Izumi Curtis was a biochemist that Edward was able to distinguish the false information.

Two hours and forty five minutes later the bell rang and Edward was forced to pack up his notes and return the books back to the shelves he’d found them on. He’d read three of them, and while they hadn’t been too inaccurate, he unfortunately hadn’t learned anything new.

He was leaving the library when he heard Sheska call his name. Turning around Edward saw a walking stack of books coming towards him and smiled. Sheska was worse than him when it came to overdoing things, and with the amount of time she spent reading instead of working, Edward was surprised that she was still a library aide.

“Want me to take half?” he asked her when she’d finally staggered to his side, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice.

“Yes please!” she panted desperately from behind the stack, struggling to stay upright.

Edward grabbed half of the books and revealed Sheska’s face, shining with a light sheen of sweat from exertion. He then pushed open the library door with his hip and waited until Sheska was out in the hallway, before letting the door swing shut.

It was complete chaos, with some students socializing and blocking the hallway, while others tried to get into their lockers. Edward weaved in and out of students paving the way for Sheska who followed close behind. He resisted the urge to tell people that the hallway before class wasn’t the time to socialize, as he doubted that they’d pay him any mind.

After what felt like far too long, they finally reached the class that they shared for first period. Edward sighed in relief as he escaped the crowded hallway for the nearly empty anatomy classroom. He headed to the back of the room and set the pile of books on the desk adjacent to his before collapsing in his chair. Sheska copied him, and they sat in a companionable silence as the classroom filled up with students.

“So,” Edward began after a couple of minutes “did you manage to find any books to read?” he asked teasingly.

Sheska laughed at that. “Yeah, the library just got a new shipment of books in, and I just couldn’t help myself. I mean so many books in one place, all begging to be read, who could possibly resist that?”

Edward shook his head. He would’ve called her a nerd, but he was the same way when it came to biochemistry. “I could name a few people, but they’re all on the hockey team, so they don’t count.” He replied, then went silent as the teacher walked in and immediately began taking roll call.

Once the teacher was done calling roll Edward pulled out his biochemistry notes and worked on coding the most recent part. Biochemistry wasn’t exactly a secretive science, but he was possessive over the several years’ worth of information he’d accumulated, so he painstakingly coded it. He already knew the anatomy class material so paying attention wasn’t really necessary. Edward actually had enough credits that he could graduate early, but he chose not to. The main reason being that by staying at Amestris high he had access to the ice rink.

“Edward,” Mr. Proctor said pulling Edward out of his notes after a good portion of the class had passed. “What is the hyoid bone connected to, and where is it located?”

“It’s not connected to any bone sir, and it sits on top of the larynx, anchoring the muscles on the floor of the mouth.” Edward replied with a slight raise of his eyebrow. The class had yet to reach that part in the curriculum, and judging by the muttering his response elicited, no one had expected him to answer it.

Mr. Proctor sighed running a hand through his thinning red hair. “Why are you in this class Edward? It’s obvious that you know the material, so what exactly are you getting from being in here?”

Edward wasn’t sure how to respond to that so he said nothing, hoping Mr. Proctor would drop it. Fortune seemed to smile on him, as after a few moments Mr. Proctor gave up waiting for an answer and went back to teaching.

Beside Edward, Sheska sighed and turned towards him. “You’re gonna drive that poor man into an early retirement” she whispered disapprovingly at him. ”And it’s only two months into the school year”

Edward rolled his eyes at her, “You’re exaggerating, he’ll just throw me out of his class.” He whispered back, and pointedly ignored the disbelieving look she threw him.

The rest of the class passed without incident and when the bell rang, Edward bid Sheska goodbye and headed to his next class. They only shared first period and lunch so he wouldn’t see her for another two hours.

* * *

 

After barely surviving his mind numbing world history class, and his soul sucking calculus class, Edward was finally released for lunch. He stopped by his locker to grab his lunch before reluctantly heading to the cafeteria. If eating in the library was allowed Edward would gladly eat there, rather than sit in the overly loud cafeteria. Unfortunately there was a strictly enforced no eating in the library rule, so he and Sheska ate with the rest of the school.

Edward walked into the cafeteria, wincing at the wave of noise that hit him. He was heading over to the table he and Sheska normally shared when someone called his name. He looked around confusedly for a few seconds, before meeting a familiar pair of bespectacled, amber eyes. He immediately recognized Hughes and frowned slightly, remembering his earlier meeting with the overzealous man. His frown deepened when he saw Sheska seated beside him, looking slightly uncomfortable.

They were seated close to the tall windows that lit the cafeteria, at a table that was highly sought after by the other students. It was currently occupied by Hughes and a few other people Edward didn’t recognize. Walking over to the table Edward wondered what this was all about. It was highly unusual for people who weren’t his brother, Sheska, or Winry (his childhood friend and the mechanic for his prosthetic limbs) to talk to him. Then again Hughes seemed to be the exception to that rule.

“Hello Hughes,” Edward said dryly when he reached the table “May I ask why you’ve kidnapped my friend?” he asked with an inquiring raise of his eyebrow.

Hughes laughed “I didn’t kidnap her; she came willingly when I told her what great friends we are.” He said rubbing a hand over his stubbly chin.

Edward looked at Sheska in askance to see if Hughes was telling the truth.

She smiled sheepishly, all nervousness gone now that Edward was there. “What can I say? I was curious what kind of person would actively seek you out, pledging vows of an undying friendship.”

Somehow Edward didn’t think Sheska was exaggerating.

“Sit” she suddenly commanded tugging at the hem of his shirt, and gesturing to the empty spot on the bench between her and Hughes. He complied dropping his backpack on the floor and sitting down, after setting his lunch on the table.

“So,” Hughes began after a brief, yet awkward silence “tell us about yourself, the mysterious Edward Elric.”

Edward frowned at that. He’d never intended to come off as mysterious; too many questions would come up, questions that he had absolutely no intention of answering. “I’m not mysterious.” he said, although it came out way more defensive than he’d intended.

“Please,” said a voice that Edward immediately recognized “If you were more mysterious I’d suspect you of being in the witness protection program.”

Edward looked across the table right into the smug gaze of Roy Mustang and glared, as some of the other people sitting at the table laughed.

“This is why no one new ever wants to sit with us Roy.” A girl sitting next to Mustang said disapprovingly.She had her dirty blonde hair tied back in a tight bun, and a small amount of expertly applied eyeliner ringed her sherry eyes. Around her was an aura that reminded Edward of a coiled snake.

Edward shifted slightly away from her. He’d been around women who could kick his ass long enough to be able to recognize one when he saw her. Mustang however, seemed completely unaffected by the stern look the blonde was giving him.

“Are you okay?” Hughes asked from his spot beside Edward “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Edward didn’t take his eyes off of the scary blonde “No just someone who can probably kill me using only her finger, and that’s if I’m lucky.” He replied honestly.

Hughes chuckled, seeming to know exactly who Edward was talking about. “Yeah that’s Riza Hawkeye. She’s the captain of the archery team so you’re not too far off.”

Edward inwardly shuddered; he was never going to introduce Hawkeye to Winry. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t survive the meeting.

It was only then that Edward realized that he’d managed to avoid the original conversation Hughes had attempted to start. He smiled slightly to himself feeling victorious, and opened the brown paper bag that held his lunch. He pulled out some carrots and began eating them, while ignoring everyone at the table. If he stayed quiet everyone would forget about him. Besides the window gave him a fairly nice view, so tuning everyone out was easy

Hughes however, didn’t sense Edward’s desire to be left out of the conversation, as he was quick to pull Edward back in. “So Edward,” he began “All of us are going to hang out after school today, would you be interested in coming?” he asked hopefully.

“No.” Edward said immediately. He didn’t even want to be sitting here, and there was no way he was going to hang out with a group of strangers. Anyways he had to babysit his neighbor’s daughter, Nina, so it wasn’t like he could actually go.

He steadfastly ignored Hughes crestfallen face and Sheska let out a frustrated sigh beside him.

“Please forgive him, teaching Ed manners is next on my list. I still have to drill it into his head that he can’t flip off the people who smile at him in the street.” She said, with a pointed glare at him.

Edward mock glared back at her, as once again the table burst into laughter.

“That was only once.” Edward protested, his face heating up with embarrassment.

Hughes nudged Edward, a large smile on his face “Care to enlighten us?” he asked.

Edward was about to refuse, but Sheska spoke before he could. “To be fair the first time he did it, the people were doing a bit more than smiling. The second time however, it was a friendly old couple who were very surprised at Ed’s reaction.” She said with laughter in her voice.

Edward looked at her with a betrayed expression on his face. Sheska saw it and laughed harder.

“You deserved that for being rude” she gasped out in between fits of laughter.

“Why am I even sitting here?” Edward grumbled to himself angrily munching on his carrots. Sheska was undoubtedly going to tell them every story where he did anything remotely embarrassing. He contemplated standing up and leaving when, for the second time that day, a phone was shoved under his nose.

Edward scowled at the phone where another photo of “Gracia” was displayed. “Hughes I swear to whatever god you believe in, if you show me another picture of your girlfriend, I will shove your phone so far up your ass that you’ll be singing your ringtone until the battery dies.” Edward promised irritation churning in his stomach.

Hughes immediately pulled back his phone and cradled it against his chest protectively, while Sheska hit him upside the head with one of her many books.

Edward looked at her dryly in response. “Winry hits me upside the head with a wrench, you’re gonna have to try a little harder than that.” He said nonchalantly and popped another carrot into his mouth.

“Is she your girlfriend?” Hughes asked, throwing an arm across Edward’s shoulders.

Edward choked on the carrot he’d been eating, at the mental image that brought to mind. “HELL NO!!!” he exclaimed breathlessly when he could finally talk, and shrugged off Hughes’ arm. Winry was like his sister, not to mention she had absolutely no interest in men.

Hughes smiled gleefully “Though doth protest too much methinks” he quoted in a singsong voice.

Edward glared at him. “She’s just my mechanic, and she’d much rather kill me, than kiss me.” he explained rather irritably.

“Fantastic! You managed to score your mechanic!” Hughes exclaimed and Edward repeatedly banged his head against the table in response.

“I didn’t know you had a car.” Mustang said in a surprised tone, and Edward stopped banging his against the table in response.

Sheska looked at him worriedly as Edward tried to form a believable lie. Winry was the one who managed the wiring in Edward’s prosthetic limbs, hence him calling her his mechanic. While Sheska knew about his prosthetics, the rest of the school didn’t and Edward went through great lengths to keep it that way, going as far as wearing long sleeves and pants in the dead of summer.

“I, uh, make things…like toys…for my neighbor’s daughter. And some of them require wiring, so Winry helps.” Edward said haltingly, hoping that everyone believed him. It was somewhat true; after all he did make things for Nina, but it was mostly out of fabric.

Hughes seemed to easily accept it, as he had a goofy grin on his face. “That’s adorable, you make toys with your girlfriend.” he cooed.

Edward, despite being relieved that Hughes believed him, resumed hitting his head against the table.

“Winry would kill you if she heard you saying that.” Sheska said, surprising Edward with the amount of irritation in her voice. Sheska was fairly laid back, so it seemed unlike her to get angry over Hughes’ light teasing.

Hawkeye suddenly spoke up. “Maes stop teasing Ed; he said that Winry wasn’t his girlfriend, so drop it.”

Edward looked at her confused. “Ed?” He asked her uncertain he had heard correctly, no one outside of his family and Sheska called him Ed.

Hawkeye looked faintly surprised by his reaction “Forgive me if I overstepped a line, but I heard Sheska call you Ed, so I assumed it was okay.”

“No it’s fine.” He replied with a wave of his hand. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Ed just doesn’t know how to be casual. It took me half of freshman year to convince him to call me Sheska instead of my last name, Archer.” Sheska interjected amusedly.

Mustang laughed “Fullmetal wouldn’t know casual if it bit him in the ass.” He said with a shit-eating smirk on his face.

Edward glowered at Mustang’s accusation. He’d show that bastard casual.

“Forgive me,” Edward said to Mustang with a fake English accent “I felt that it was only proper to be formal in your presence, Ser Bastard of Jackass land”. He then gave an exaggerated bow over the table.

Mustang raised his eyebrow, “And pray tell what good is a dwarf to me, Fullmetal?” he asked mimicking Edward’s fake accent and moving a hand to prop up his chin.

Edward turned red at Mustang’s crack at his height. “I’m not fucking short, you asshole!” Edward spat breaking character at the insult. It was hardly his fault he was fifteen and only five foot two, he was still growing.

“I’m sorry Fullmetal; I didn’t realize such a _small_ issue would upset you.” Mustang said condescendingly, amusement glittering in his dark eyes.

“Was that another fucking quip at my height?! I’m still growing, you backwater desert idiot!” Edward exclaimed scowling at the Mustang’s smug face.

“Roy, please stop intentionally pissing off Ed.” Sheska interrupted. “If he kicks your ass, Mrs. Curtis is going to kill him.”

Mustang laughed at that. “Fullmetal weighs what, 100 lbs soaking wet? I think I’d be able to take him.”

Edward stared at him, amused. His adoptive mother, Izumi Curtis, was trained in several different types of fighting, and she’d taught Edward and Alphonse almost everything she knew. Not only that, but ice skating had made Edward very flexible and had given him a sense of balance that he hadn’t gotten from martial arts. In other words Mustang would be screwed if he tried to fight him.

“No, no, Mustang is right. He could totally handle himself in a fight against me.” Edward assured and shook his head at Sheska, when she shot him a dubious look. If Mustang was going to underestimate him then Edward was more than happy to let him.

Mustang narrowed his eyes. “Why do I feel like you’re hiding something?” he asked suspiciously.

Edward looked at him as innocently as possible. “I’m not hiding anything; my sense of self preservation was just kicking in.” he replied, then pulled out a sandwich and began eating it. Though he mainly did it so no one could ask him anymore questions, he really was hungry. Normally he had his lunch finished within the first five minutes of being released from class. However with everyone giving him the third degree, he’d only managed to finish his carrots so far.

“And where exactly was this sense of self preservation when you called me a backwater desert idiot?” Mustang asked despite Edward’s mouth being full.

Edward gestured vaguely towards his mouth and sandwich and ignored the question in favor of eating.

“If Ed and Roy were to fight, who would you put money on?” a guy with spiky blonde hair, sitting on the other side of Hughes, asked suddenly.

Edward looked over at him curiously. This was the first time the guy had spoken up and he looked quite tired. Edward assumed (based on the dark circles around his blue eyes) that he had been asleep, only having been awake for last part of the conversation.

“Jean you can’t place bets on the hypothetical” Hawkeye told the man sternly, though the overall affect was ruined by the fond smile she gave him.

“Hey I’m not placing a bet.” Jean said, raising his hands defensively. “I’m just asking who you think would win.”

Hughes let out a laugh before turning to Edward. “That’s Jean Havoc. If he thinks he can make a bet about something, he will.”

Edward nodded and swallowed his bite of sandwich. “I know the feeling. If Sheska can read it she will, but you should be extremely careful about what you let her read. She has a photographic memory.” He explained.

Hawkeye looked impressed and turned to Sheska. “You have a photographic memory?” she asked, in a slightly awed tone.

Sheska blushed slightly her brown skin going a shade darker. “Yeah, but only when it comes to reading.” She replied shyly. “Winry has me read her direction pamphlets and recite the directions, when she’s about to build something new, so she doesnt have to waste time reading.”

Havoc whistled. “Wow that’s a useful gift to have. I’ll bet that you’re the top of all your classes.” He said sounding slightly envious.

Sheska smiled proudly. “I’m ranked second in the entire school.”

Mustang frowned. “If you’re ranked second who’s first?” he asked. Sheska opened her mouth to respond, but Edward beat her to it.

“Just some loser, I mean honestly, they’d have to be the ultimate nerd in order to beat Sheska.” He interjected with a completely straight face, despite the fact that he was talking about himself.

Beside him Sheska doubled over with laughter. “Edward is ranked first in the school.” Sheska said in response to the confused expressions everyone was giving her, when she could pause long enough in her laughing to speak.

“Dammit Sheska,” Edward protested “You’re ruining my reputation.”

The table erupted into laughter and Edward smiled at how happy Sheska looked. Sheska was sweet and funny, but people avoided her due to her endless fascination with reading, so she didn’t have many friends. It made him happy to see people praising her for her talents and listening to her when she spoke. If these people made her happy, he supposed he could befriend them. Except for Mustang, there was no way he would befriend that bastard.

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang, pulling Edward out of his thoughts. With a mournful look at his unfinished sandwich, Edward packed up what remained of his lunch and waved goodbye to everyone, before heading off to his next class.


	2. A Crack in the Wall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, not much happens in this chapter, since i'm just really bringing in characters who are going to be recurring. it's not the best, but I'm setting things up for chapter three, where the story starts picking up. sorry if the ending was rather abrubt, as I wasn't sure how to end it. I got this chapter up in a week, so if i keep working at this pace and don't get writer's block, this could be a weekly thing. So i hope you enjoy and thank you to those of you who read my story or left kudos. hope you enjoy.

The final bell rang and Edward eagerly left class. The hallway was louder than it had been earlier in the morning and more people were blocking the hallway, socializing. Edward pushed through the students around him, ignoring their indignant shouts as he jostled them. If they wanted to block the hallway fine, but he wasn’t going to wait patiently for them to finish their conversation just so he could get by.

School let out at two thirty and for that Edward was thankful. Nina got out of school at three and Edward needed to be at her school, to pick her up when she got out.

Edward babysat Nina, Monday through Friday from three to six, while her father was at work. Nina’s mother had left them three years ago, and her father was almost never home. It pissed Edward off, seeing her father, the only family Nina had, always wrapped up in his work. So Edward made sure to always be there for her, as to never make her feel like no one cared about her. Nina became the little sister he never had.

He went to his locker, crammed the books he didn’t need into it, and then he was off, dodging students as he left the school. Edward passed Sheska as he left, heading away from the busses, and waved goodbye to her. He’d more likely than not see her after he was done babysitting, as Sheska and Winry liked to hang out at his house and watch movies.

He wasn’t quite sure why the two girls didn’t just watch movies over at Winry’s house, seeing as it was right across the street from his. However, having them over was nice, so Edward wasn’t complaining.

After about twenty minutes of walking, the Sewing Life Elementary school came into view. It was a long, squat brick building, with a small playground, and was up at the top of a hill. It wasn’t the best elementary school in Edward’s opinion, but Nina loved it, so he refrained from calling it the Rust-bucket when she was around.

He reached the doors and pulled one open, careful with the handle. It looked like it could break off at any time and Edward didn’t want to be held responsible for the destruction of school property.

He walked into the office and was greeted by the smile of the old secretary that worked there. He smiled back, as he genuinely liked her. Edward was always early in picking up Nina, but the secretary was fine with him pulling her out of class and leaving before school was officially over.

“Here for Nina Tucker?” she asked with a knowing smile.

Edward nodded “Yes ma’am.” He replied respectfully.

The secretary wheeled around in her chair and picked up a phone. “Someone is here for Nina Tucker.” She said into the phone after a moment of silence. Another moment of silence passed and she hung up turning back to him.

“She’ll be down in a second hon, just take a seat” the secretary told him, gesturing towards the seats along the wall.

Edward complied, taking off his backpack and setting it beside him, as he sat down. He waited a few minutes in silence, the air conditioning humming softly in the background of the homey office.

The clock showed that Edward had been waiting for five minutes when the door finally opened, revealing a five year old girl, with big blue eyes, and long auburn hair tied back in two braids

“Hey Nina.” Edward said with a smile as she came running towards him.

“Ed! Guess what, guess what, guess what?” She asked him excitedly, bouncing up and down when she reached his side, her hands behind her back.

Edward stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. “Hmm, let’s see,” he said scratching his chin and pretending to think “Did you perhaps, pass your multiplication test?” he asked with a grin.

Nina’s face lit up with joy. “Yes!” She exclaimed, and proudly thrust the test she’d been holding behind her back, into his face.

Edward looked it over and smiled wider, when he saw the one hundred percent scrawled across her paper in red pen. Nina was exceptionally smart and because of that, she did advanced work in her classes. Unfortunately the school had a policy that no grade skips could be made until first grade, and Nina had just gone into kindergarten.

“This calls for ice cream.” Edward told her and held out his hand for her to take. Nina cheered and grabbed his hand, practically dragging him out of the office.

* * *

 

Edward sat on the park bench beside Nina while she ate her ice cream. He had taken her to a park in their neighborhood, and despite the amount that they’d had to walk, she hadn’t complained once.

He leaned over to wipe the chocolate sauce off of her chin, with one of the many napkins that he’d grabbed after licking it. Nina paused in her slurping and giggled as he wiped off the sticky splotch, before continuing to eat her ice cream cone.

Once she was done eating and Edward had made sure that she wasn’t sticky anywhere else, Nina hopped off the bench.

“Let’s make daisy chains” she said with an excited smile, pointing at a patch of October dandelions.

Edward stood up and gathered up the crumpled napkins. “Sounds fun.” He said with an easy smile, and walked over to the patch with her, pausing to throw the napkins in a nearby trashcan.

They sat down in the patch and Edward began picking the dandelions while Nina babbled on about school. He listened with a smile, and once he’d had a large enough pile, he gave half of the flowers to Nina, keeping the other half for himself.

Nina immediately stopped talking when he handed her the flowers, and began making a daisy chain, poking her tongue out to the side in concentration. Edward carefully started weaving the flowers together, cursing silently when he pulled too hard and broke one. He paused every now and then to make sure that Nina was still there and didn’t need any help.

Edward crowed triumphantly, when at last he finished his flower crown, scooted closer to Nina, and gently placed the flower crown on her head.

“There you go.” he said with a smile, as she looked up at him in surprise. Nina raised a hand to the flower crown and touched it gingerly. It seemed to pass her brief inspection, as she shot him a brilliant smile.

“Now I’m a king.” She said proudly, and then went back to weaving her flower crown.

Edward smiled at her reaction, and then began picking more flowers. He started weaving them into Nina’s braids, being careful not to pull her hair, and making sure that the flowers would easily come out later. He had just put the last flower into her hair, when Nina turned around.

“I finished it.” She said, showing him the completed crown. “Now I have to do your hair, really pretty and put the crown on you. So you have to turn around.” She commanded him, with a serious expression on her face.

Edward complied, turning around and smiling over how serious she was. He felt a slight tugging at the end of his braid and then Nina ran her fingers through his hair, undoing his braid. After a minute or so of that, she stopped combing through his hair and began pulling back small pieces of his hair.

Edward closed his eyes and relaxed, as he enjoyed the familiar sensation of having his hair braided. Nina occasionally tugged a bit too hard, but it was never hard enough for him to remind her to be gentle.

“Do you have any ponytail holders?” Nina asked after a few minutes.

Edward shifted slightly so he could reach into his pocket, and pulled out several rubber bands. He always carried a few with him, as he had a tendency to break them when he attempted to pull his hair back.

“Here you go.” he said holding his hand behind him, and Nina quickly grabbed the rubber bands out of his hand.

After a while Edward felt Nina place the cold and slightly damp flower crown on his head. Then coming to stand in front of him, she admired her handiwork. Edward placed a hand in his hair feeling that the majority of it was down, with flowers woven into a few small braids.

“Now you’re a princess.” Nina suddenly declared, imperiously placing her hands on her hips. “And I’m a king, so that means I gotta rescue you from a tower.”

Edward smiled and stood up “Which tower would you like to rescue me from, Your Majesty?” he asked, in the same British accent he’d used during lunch.

Nina looked around the park, before pointing to the monkey bars. “That one.” She said, bouncing up and down slightly with excitement, at the prospect of playing a game.

Edward nodded, and with a serious expression pointed to the kids playing around the park. “Are you going to rally the troops?” he asked her.

She nodded then ran over to the children closest to her, leaving a trail of flowers behind her as they fell out of her hair.

* * *

 

Edward sat on top of the monkey bars that Nina had dubbed the castle, and watched as more and more children flocked to Nina’s side. She stood on the park balance beam, using it as a stage, and explained the rules of the game, as though they were a matter of life or death.

He smiled, as she very adamantly stated, that magic was against the rules, when one of the kids asked her if they could be a wizard and save the princess. Once Nina had an idea in her mind, there was nothing anyone could do to change it, and Edward saw that there was no way anyone would convince her to change the rules.

A cool October breeze started up and Edward sighed in irritation as his hair was blown into his face. He pushed his hair back from his face and it fell across his shoulders messily, revealing the braids Nina had meticulously made. None of the bright, yellow flowers Nina had woven into his hair had fallen out at the disturbance, so Edward suspected they’d be a pain to remove later.

A sudden click startled Edward and he had to grip the monkey bars to keep from falling off of them, into the bark dust below. He looked down and saw Hughes standing there below him, with a camera pointed at him.

“So this is why you said you didn’t want to come and hang out with us.” Hughes said with a smile, lowering his camera.

“What are you doing here?” Edward asked irritably, once he’d gotten over the initial shock of suddenly seeing Hughes.

“Taking pictures.” Hughes said lifting his camera slightly, as though Edward hadn’t noticed it when Hughes had taken the picture.

“Yes I can see that, but what are you doing at this park?” Edward asked growing more irritated at having to repeat the question.

“Everyone went and caught a movie at the theater nearby, and we stopped here for ice cream.” Hughes told him with a smile. “I saw you sitting up there from the ice cream cart, and came over to say hi.”

Edward raised an eyebrow. Hughes really came off as a stalker

“Why’d you take my picture?” he asked with a frown, not even attempting to hide his ever mounting irritation.

Hughes laughed at that. “If you don’t know, then I’m not going to tell you” he said, smiling wider at Edward’s obvious frustration.

Edward wondered briefly if Sheska would forgive him, if he decided to break Hughes’ camera. He dismissed the thought immediately. If Sheska didn’t kill him for it, Winry definitely would, and he would rather not get hit with a wrench today.

“Maes!” a voice barked, impatiently from behind them, and Edward didn’t have to turn around to know that it belonged to Mustang.

Edward turned anyways and glared at him, as Mustang came forward. Unfortunately he’d forgotten that with flowers in his hair, he didn’t come off as imposing.

Mustang looked up at him, initially appearing surprised, but quickly donned a smirk when he saw the state Edward was in. “Nice flowers Fullmetal.” He said.

Edward tossed his hair over his shoulders. “They are, aren’t they?” he asked haughtily, and smirked right back. If Mustang was going to be a jackass, then Edward would return the favor.

Mustang just stared at him in response before frowning slightly, likely at the fact he hadn’t managed to piss Edward off like he had at lunch. He opened his mouth as though to say something, but closed it soundlessly, and looked back at Hughes.

“You took too long and everyone left without you.” He told Hughes with what seemed to be a bit more irritation than the situation called for.

Hughes frowned looking disappointed, but not surprised, which only served to make Edward positive that it was a common occurrence.

Okay, so maybe the level of Mustang’s irritation was justified.

“How cruel of them,” Hughes said dramatically sighing, then looking up at Edward with puppy dog eyes. “You’d never abandon me would you Ed?” he asked.

Edward raised an eyebrow. “In a heartbeat.” He answered, enjoying Hughes overdramatic reaction.

Nina suddenly called his name, and came running over to the monkey bars.

Edward looked over to her concerned, “Are you okay?” he asked her, looking her over for any obvious injuries, and preparing to jump down at the slightest hint of a limp. Nina shook her head. “No we’re ready to play.” She replied, shifting side to side impatiently, before noticing Hughes and Mustang.

“Who’re they?” she asked curiously, cocking her head to one side.

Edward frowned, and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, not quite how to introduce them. Mustang however took the introductions into his own hands.

“I’m Roy mustang, and this is Maes Hughes.” He said bending down, and holding out his hand for Nina to shake.

Nina took his hand and shook it. “I’m Nina, wanna play with me?” she asked, her eyes pleading him to say yes.

Mustang hesitated, but like many others seemed unable to resist her request, as a moment later he nodded and stood up. “Sure, what game are we playing?”

Nina beamed up at him. “I’m a king and Ed is a princess. I gotta rescue him from the tower, and you gotta be a dragon.” She replied, leaving no room for argument.

“Fullmetal’s a princess, huh?” Mustang said and threw Edward a smirk, who responded with a glare. “Well that would certainly explain the flowers. So what’s my friend going to be” he asked pointing to Hughes.

Nina studied Hughes a moment before declaring, “He’s gonna be my trusty steed.”

Edward expected him to take offense, but Hughes looked absolutely delighted.

Ed frowned, how was he supposed to refrain from actually liking these people, when they treated Nina like her word was law?

Nina quickly explained the rules to them, and then the game began.

* * *

 

The park was filled with the laughter and squeals of the children as they ran around trying to find a way around Mustang to the monkey bars. Every time a kid got too close, Mustang would tag them, and they froze. Nina rode around on Hughes’ shoulders unfreezing her “troops” by having Hughes tag them.

Edward just watched from his place on the monkey bars, smiling at the scene that unfolded before him. Nina was having the time of her life and to his surprise, Hughes and Mustang appeared to be having fun as well. The kids were getting all of their energy out and Edward could see their mother’s and father’s smiling in relief, as they likely imagined their peaceful evening.

The game finally ended with Hughes and Nina sitting on top of Mustang, the other kids having dispersed after the game had been won. Smiling, Edward effortlessly swung down from the monkey bars and landed lightly on his feet. He walked over to them watching, amused, as Mustang struggled to get up and Hughes took pictures, capturing his futile efforts.

Mustang eventually managed to get free and Nina came running over to Edward.

“I like your friends.” she said with a smile so wide it was almost blinding.

Edward just nodded, not quite sure how else to respond. They weren’t exactly his friends, but to admit it seemed rude. Not to mention he didn’t actively dislike them, Hughes was a bit annoying and Mustang constantly pissed him off, but they weren’t bad people.

Hughes suddenly slung an arm over his shoulder. “I knew we’d eventually win you over” he said with a smug smile, giving Ed’s left shoulder a squeeze.

Edward shrugged off Hughes’ arm. “Who says you won me over?” he asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

Hughes just laughed, and behind him Mustang scoffed, “Please Fullmetal, if you didn’t like us then there’d be no way you’d have let us play with Nina.” He said with the roll of his eyes.

Edward scowled, and since it’d be inappropriate to flip him off in a park full of children, he settled for sticking his tongue out.

Mustang raised an eyebrow in response, “What are you, six?” he asked.

“And a half.” Edward answered flippantly, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, flipping it open to check the time.

It was almost five o’clock, which meant Edward needed to get Nina home so he could make her dinner. Nina’s father couldn’t cook, so he constantly ate out, which meant that before Edward babysat her, Nina ate almost nothing but fast food. When Edward had first found out about that he’d been furious, and from then on he always made Nina dinner over at his house.

“C’mon Nina it’s time to go.” Edward said, putting his phone back in his pocket, and holding out his hand for her to take.

Nina pouted, but didn’t object, taking Edwards hand without hesitation. “Bye, bye.” She told Mustang and Hughes, waving at them with the hand that wasn’t clasped firmly in Edward’s.

“Bye Nina.” Mustang said warmly, then pointedly ignored Edward and started walking in the direction of the ice cream cart. Edward glared at him as he left, offended by his casual dismissal. “Bye Nina, bye Ed, see you later.” Hughes told them with a smile and then ran off to catch up with Mustang.

* * *

 

It was six thirty by the time Edward was free of all responsibilities. Nina had a quick dinner over at his house, then Edward took her home and helped her feed her Great Pyrenees, Alexander. Unfortunately it seemed Alexander wasn’t nearly as interested in food, as he was in tackling Edward repeatedly. Nina’s dad, Shou Tucker, got home from work shortly after that and sent Edward on his way after paying him.

Edward walked into the living room, after removing all the flowers Nina had put in his hair, where he’d heard Winry and Sheska watching movies, while making Nina dinner. Sure enough they were still there, huddled under a blanket despite the fact that it was seventy-six degrees outside.

“What movie are you guys watching?” He asked, sitting down on the unoccupied part of the couch.

Winry paused the movie and turned to glare at him for the interruption.

Edward had to do his best not to laugh at her appearance. Her blonde hair, currently tied up in a high ponytail, was standing up in all directions. There was chocolate smudged on the corner of her mouth and her blue eyes, despite glaring at him, were slightly unfocused. Judging by all this Edward assumed that Winry and Sheska had been watching movies non-stop since they got home from school.

“The Princess Bride.” Winry replied shortly, still glaring at him.

“It’s the best movie ever,” Sheska said from her place beside Winry. “And you’re interrupting it.”

Edward smiled and shook his head. “That’s where I’m going to have to disagree with you” he replied. “Stardust is definitely the best movie of all time.”

Winry’s glare grew murderous and Sheska gasped as though he’d cursed out her grandmother.

“Do you want those words to be the last you’ve ever spoken?” Winry asked threateningly

“How could you even say that?” Sheska asked in a horrified tone “The Princess Bride is about true love, and has adventures and swordfights and pirates.”

“Stardust has all that, plus Yvaine is a total badass while Buttercup is an idiot.” Edward argued “Not to mention Stardust has Captain Shakespeare, a genderfluid sky pirate and Tristan is initially a love struck idiot before he gets some character development.” He finished with a smug smile.

“But The Princess Bride shows that even after death love prevails.” Sheska countered, smiling as though she’d won.

Edward just rolled his eyes. “Yvaine’s confession carries a way bigger message about love than The Princess Pride. Besides no one even really died, so the whole love after death thing is pretty moot.”

Winry suddenly looked behind Edward a frustrated expression on her face. Edward turned around as well and saw his brother, Alphonse standing in the doorway, and amused expression on his face.

His brother looked a lot like Edward in many ways. They both had gold eyes and blonde hair, but while Edward wore his hair long, Alphonse kept his cropped short. Something that Edward thought was completely unfair was that, despite being a year younger than him, Alphonse was taller than him by 8 inches.

“Al, tell your idiotic brother that he’s wrong.” Winry pleaded to Alphonse.

“No, no, he’s got a point.” Alphonse replied with a smile. “Just don’t let him keep it too long, or he’ll wind up stabbing himself with it.”

Sheska burst into laughter and Winry pouted. “Al, you’re supposed to be on my side.” she complained.

Alphonse just shrugged. ‘If I’m going to be a lawyer, I have to be objective and Ed made a better case than you did.”

Edward smiled the way he did whenever Alphonse mentioned wanting to be a lawyer. “My baby brother is gonna go to Harvard.” He said with a fist pump.

Alphonse gave him a dry look. “You say that every time I mention being a lawyer Ed. Are you ever going to get tired of doing that?” he asked exasperatedly.

“Nope.” Edward replied, popping the p.

“Okay well if you’re not gonna watch the movie, leave.” Winry interrupted, settling back into the position she’d been in before the argument.

Edward rolled his eyes. “You can’t kick us out, this is our house.” He said giving her a pointed look.

“Watch me.” Winry threatened, not taking her eyes off the TV as she un-paused it.

Deciding that pissing her off wasn’t in his best interest, Edward left the room with Alphonse trailing close behind.

* * *

 

An hour later, after Winry and Sheska had finally left, Edward was seated at the dinner table with Alphonse and their adoptive parents, Izumi and Sig Curtis.

Izumi Curtis had adopted Edward and Alphonse after the accident that had killed their mother. She didn’t look anything like the two brothers, with black hair that she kept tied back in box braids, and dark eyes. The only thing she shared with Edward was a tattoo on her left collar bone, of the Flamel.

Izumi had gotten the tattoo after she beat ovarian cancer, as a symbol of her survival. The Flamel stood for the fixing of the volatile, and after Edward had recovered from the surgery that gave him the prosthetics, he’d gotten it tattooed on his back.

Sig Curtis was a mountain of a man, with tan skin, and a face that terrified the majority of everyone who’d met him. Despite his intimidating appearance he was incredibly sweet, though he didn’t often talk.

They ate dinner in silence, but not because there was nothing to talk about. The first part of dinner was always silent with Edward barely pausing to breathe while he ate, Alphonse savoring every bite of his meal, and Izumi and Sig throwing disgustingly sappy looks at each other in between bites.

After the majority of the meal was finished, Alphonse began talking about the mock trial his ninth grade history class was preparing for.

“So Mr. Comanche divided us into groups and my group got the king and queen, so we have to argue that they were free of all blame for the mass genocide of the Tainos.” Alphonse explained excitedly. “This is going to be hard since the king and queen authorized Columbus’ journey, but at least we didn’t actually get Columbus.”

Edward smiled at that. “So no matter how good the Columbus group’s case is, they’re gonna be guilty huh?” Edward asked around a bite of potato.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full Edward” Izumi admonished, with an underlying tone that made Edward immediately swallow his food.

Alphonse nodded. “Yeah, the result is left up to a class vote, but the Columbus group is likely gonna try to either pin the blame on us, or the group who got Columbus’ crew.”

Izumi nodded “I’m sure you’ll do great Al.” she told Alphonse with an encouraging smile, and then turned to Edward. “Anything happen to you today, or do you just continuously relive the same day?” she asked snarkily.

Edward made a face at her crack at his lack of social life. “Well today I accidentally befriended a stalkerish hockey player and his jackass friend.” He replied flippantly.

“That’s great!” Alphonse exclaimed giving him a proud smile.

Edward frowned at his brother. “Did you not hear the words that came out of my mouth?” he asked incredulously.

Honestly was his brother so eager for him to make friends, that he didn’t care who exactly he befriended? Edward really wasn’t that bad, he had Sheska and Winry, besides Edward never heard about any of Alphonse’s friends.

“Yes I heard that you made friends and considering your tendency to be overdramatic, I highly doubt that they’re as bad as you say.” Alphonse told him, still smiling.

“I’m not overdramatic.” He grumbled, glaring at his empty plate.

“Yes you are.” Izumi and Alphonse said simultaneously.

Edward shifted his glare from the plate to the two traitors that were his brother and Izumi. “Sig, you’re my new favorite.” He told the man who had yet to speak a word.

Izumi just shook her head. “Yeah, yeah, drama queen, we get it. Now if you’re done, do the dishes and get to bed. You’ve got to be up before four and I don’t wanna listen to you whine, when you oversleep.” She said, holding out her empty plate out for him to take.

Edward rolled his eyes then stood up and collected all the plates from the table. “Got it.” He replied, heading off to the kitchen to do as he was told.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I hope you enjoyed this, and I'm sorry again if the ending was too abrubt. As you might have guessed I'm a fan of movies, and if you haven't seen either, The Princess Bride or Stardust, you should. If you spot any errors, please let me know and I'll be posting the next chapter as soon as it's finished, so stay tuned.


	3. The Ball Starts Rolling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm late guys, life and writer's block got in the way. This chapter was very hard to write, and I'm not quite sure if the content makes up for the extra wait, but honestly I'm just glad i finished it.

Edward woke up, bleary eyed and irritable, to the shrill beeping of his alarm. He groaned, and despite his desire to hide under his pillow, he shut off the bane of his existence and got out of bed.

Waking up completely was a slow process, as Edward was still half asleep while he got dressed. He wanted nothing more than to crawl back under his warm covers, and sleep until the sun rose and the smell of pancakes woke him up, but unfortunately he didn’t have that luxury. He put on a dark red button up over a black tank top, jeans, and the gloves he was almost never without.

Once dressed he grabbed his backpack and boots and left his room, making a muffled thump every other step, as he transitioned from carpet to wood flooring. The lone wool sock on his metal foot prevented a loud clank from sounding every time he walked on his prosthetic, but it failed to completely eliminate the noise that resulted.

Heading to the kitchen, he dropped his bag on the couch in the living room, and then made for the coffee pot as though it held the secrets of the universe. Coffee was the only thing that could keep him awake, and even then it had to be brewed extra dark.

After turning on the coffee pot, Edward began to make his lunch, packing carrots, banana chips, and an avocado and tomato sandwich in one of the seemingly, never-ending brown paper bags that were kept in the pantry. It was a nutritious lunch, and a far cry tastier than the crap they served at school and called lunch.

He left the kitchen, putting his lunch on the couch beside his backpack, before heading back for his coffee.

* * *

 

Edward made it to school with more than enough time for him to get changed before it was time for his slot. It was dead silent when he walked into the building that held the ice rink. The supervisor for the rink was asleep, but then again she was never awake when Edward arrived. He was almost certain that was a violation of security measures, but finding someone to replace her would take forever, and in the meantime the rink would be shut down.

He shuddered at the thought of the rink being shut down, before heading to the locker rooms and quickly getting changed into his ice skating gear. It wasn’t wise to dwell on the maybes in life, and if no one knew about the supervisor’s fallacies, nothing would change. After he was dressed Edward expertly laced up his skates and walked out into the ice rink.

The ice shone in the lighting and Edward smiled at the rush of cold air that hit him. The ice was perfectly smooth, and as he was the first one to skate in the morning, he got to skate on unblemished ice. Edward didn’t think he’d ever get over the feeling he got every time he remembered that he had an entire rink to himself for two hours.

He stepped onto the ice and glided easily out into the middle. Then he launched himself forward and began to pump his legs as hard as he could, skating so fast that the stands around him were nothing more than a colored blur. He beamed as the cold air bit at his face and tugged at his hair, and went even faster, turning so sharply that he kicked up a spray of ice.

He slowed down slightly, and then proceeded to skate backwards, weaving in and out of imaginary cones. Then dropping down into a crouch, he skated with one leg tucked under him, and the other parallel to the ground.

Standing up, he stopped, and skated forward, effortlessly making a figure eight before going into a waltz jump. He landed it and turning forward he did a Mohawk, then swung his free leg forward and transitioned into a Salchow. He came down and stopped, finished with his pre-skate warm up.After skating over to the corner of the rink, opposite from the entrance, he stepped out of the rink. He walked precariously over to the huge, outdated CD player to play his music through the speakers that hung from the ceiling.

Edward was glad the technology was as old as it was, even if everyone else complained. He was really bad with newer technology and even with the old CD player; it had taken him forever to learn how to use it. He put in the CD that held the music for his routine and used the ten seconds of silence before the music played, to get into the rink.

Once the music started Edward began to practice the routine he was planning to perform at the upcoming competition.

* * *

 

When his slot on the ice was nearly over, Edward stopped practicing, despite the fact that he’d rather skate all day. He reluctantly left the ice and headed over to the bench to sit down to take off his skates. It was only then that he realized that the rink was way too empty.

He frowned, normally the hockey players were milling around, ready to be on the ice the second Edward left the rink, but today no one was there. He wondered why the hockey team wasn’t practicing, but he shrugged it off. Sheska was more than likely going to sit with Hughes at lunch, so Edward could just ask him then.

He contemplated skating during the hockey team’s slot, since it wasn’t being used, but he decided against it. He’d either get in trouble, or the team would demand part of Edward’s slot in return, to make up for the time they missed and neither outcome was appealing.

Sighing, Edward unlaced his skates, and cared for the blades. Surprisingly he found himself missing Hughes’ unnecessary commentary, despite only knowing the guy for a day. He figured it was just because the rink was silent and it was putting him on edge.

He shook his head, exasperated with himself, he was being ridiculous. The hockey team was just fine, and they were likely missing practice for something stupid. Edward quickly packed up his skates, and with a last glimpse at the empty rink, headed off to the locker rooms to change.

* * *

 

The halls were almost empty when Edward walked through them, heading off to the library. The few people that were at school, looked impossibly tired and utterly miserable. Edward wondered why they were at school so early. He swore that one of the students was asleep; with her head resting inside what Edward assumed was her locker.

He was tempted to wake her up, but he’d likely come off as creepy. Besides, Edward was sure that one of her friends would wake her up before class, so really there was no need.

Turning left Edward headed into the library, expecting to see Sheska at the front desk like usual. However in Sheska’s place, sat a guy with glasses and spiky black hair, looking completely absorbed in whatever was being displayed on the computer screen.

Edward looked at him, confused. Where was Sheska, and why wasn’t she working in the library like usual?

He walked over to Sheska's replacement, who looked up when Edward reached the desk. “Uh…do you happen to know where Sheska is?” Edward asked, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

The bespectacled guy looked up and smiled wryly. “She got, for lack of a better word, fired.” He replied apologetically. “I believe she’s over in the fiction section, with a stack of books taller than she is.”

Edward nodded, not really all that surprised. “Thanks.” He told him, and then headed over the fiction section.

Edward rounded the corner and was greeted by the sight of Sheska pinned under a pile of books. She looked quite effectively trapped, with only her head sticking out, and Edward wondered how she’d managed to collect so many books.

Sheska looked up and upon seeing Edward, smiled in relief. “Ed, thank goodness you’re here. I’ve been waiting for someone to help me for ages.”

Edward smiled and shook his head in amusement. “The new library aide is at the front desk, why didn’t you just call for help? He asked, incredulously.

Sheska looked horrified at his question. “There’s no yelling in the library.” She replied indignantly.

Edward rolled his eyes, and then crouched and began pulling books off of her. “You’re allowed to call for help anywhere, libraries included. There are no rules against trying to get rescued.” He told her exasperatedly, while stacking the books he pulled off of her behind him.

Once Edward uncovered her arms, Sheska was able to stand up, wincing as she pulled herself free.

Edward looked at her worriedly, “Were you hurt when the books fell on you?” he asked her, concerned.

Sheska smiled warmly at him. “I’m fine, nothing more than a few bruises, and those’ll fade in a few days. Besides if it turns into something serious, I’ll just have Winry look at it.” She told him waving a hand flippantly.

Edward nodded, and then continued stacking the mess of books. “Why on earth do you need this many books? You just brought home a bunch, yesterday.” He asked, pausing to raise an eyebrow at her.

Sheska blushed. “I left them all at home, and since I got fired, I figured I’d get enough books to read for two hours.”

Edward raised his eyebrow higher in response and Sheska glared at him.

“I might have gotten a bit carried away, but that’s what libraries are for.” Sheska said hotly, then refused to look at him as she began helping him pick up the books.

Once they’d gathered up all the books, Edward grabbed one of the many stacks. “I’m gonna go give these to the new aide.” He told Sheska sternly. “And then when I get back I’m going to take more back to him. You can choose eight books to read, but that’s it.”

Sheska opened her mouth to object, but at Edward’s pointed glare, shut it quickly. “Fine.” She grumbled reluctantly.

Edward walked back to the front desk and set he books down.

The aide looked up at him, and gave him a kind smile. “Are you checking these out?” he asked moving forward to grab the scanner.

Edward quickly shook his head. “No, my friend grabbed too many books so I’m making her put all but eight back. There’s more back with her, but I just grabbed what I could carry.” He explained.

The library aide looked anxious, most likely at the prospect of having to shelve a lot of books. “I could help you shelve these if you like.” Edward offered. He really didn’t want to but the kid looked like a kicked puppy.

The aide’s face brightened. “Yes please, that would be a huge help.” He said gratefully.” I’m Kain Fuery”

“I’m Edward Elric.” Edward replied.

Fuery laughed. “I know.” He said amusedly.

Edward looked at him confused. He’d never met Fuery until now, so how did he know his name?

“I’m friends with Roy and Maes.” Fuery elaborated, when Edward didn’t say anything.

Edward winced. “Oh.” He hadn’t exactly made the best impression on Hughes and Mustang, so he could only imagine what they told Fuery.

Fuery looked at him accusingly. “What, do you have a problem with them?” he asked.

Edward’s eyes widened as he realized how that came off. “No that’s not what I meant.” He exclaimed, shaking his head quickly. “It’s just…I didn’t exactly make a good first impression.”

Fuery visibly relaxed, and gave him a smile. “Well Maes didn’t say anything, but positive things about you, so I’m sure you did much better than you thought.” He reassured him.

Edward was surprised at how happy that made him. He figured it was because Hughes had tried so hard to befriend him. Sure he was annoying with his constant happiness, but you couldn’t hate a guy like that. Hughes had grown on him, kinda like a fungus.

Edward smiled, “That’s good.” He replied, and then changed the subject. “So I’ll just grab all the books, and you can start shelving them. I’ll help you once all of the books are at the desk, sound good?” he asked.

Fuery nodded. “That’s what I was going to suggest.” Then stood up and began gathering up the books.

Edward headed back towards Sheska to grab more books. He was tempted to make Sheska help, but he could all too easily see her getting distracted by one of the books she was supposed to put away.

Grabbing as many books as could easily be carried, he headed towards Fuery’s desk and for the remainder of the time before class they re-shelved all of the books.

* * *

 

When the bell rang, Edward had to physically drag Sheska out of the library, as she was so engrossed in her book that she refused to look up.

As soon as they walked out into the hallway, it grew quiet, the usual morning chaos replaced by hushed whispers. Students, rather than socializing and blocking the hallway, visibly backed away from Edward and Sheska.

Edward stopped walking and frowned. He really hadn’t been rude enough in the halls yesterday after school to make people afraid of getting in his way, so he had no idea what this was about. He decided to take advantage of the unobstructed halls and use the opportunity to get to class quickly.

He started forward again dragging Sheska along with him, as she still hadn’t looked up. Honestly, this girl was oblivious once she started reading, although that had been made obvious in freshman year when she had read straight through a fire drill and a teacher had to go back in the building to “rescue” her.

The whispering continued but as soon as Edward walked passed students, they immediately went silent until he was fully past them. The longer Edward was in the hallway the louder it got and it seemed that no one had a concept of volume, as it was easy to discern what they were saying.

“Did you hear? Maes had his arm broken.”

Edward almost completely stopped, after hearing that. Hughes’ arm was broken? How the hell had that happened? Fuery hadn’t mentioned anything about it in the library, was he aware his friend was injured? Edward felt sick, as he remembered what it had been like being unable to skate after the accident. Hughes was going to be miserable, if the rumor was true. A broken arm would take at least up to six weeks to heal, and then Hughes would have to retrain his arm to gain back the muscle he lost. He wouldn’t be able to skate at all during that time. Edward kept walking, but the more he heard, the worse he felt.

“They say it was Fullmetal.”

“Wonder how he did it.”

“Did you see him sitting next to Maes, yesterday? He looked totally pissed.”

“I heard he has a vendetta against the hockey team.”

“I can’t believe Fullmetal put Hughes in the hospital.”

Edward felt like he’d been sucker punched. The whole school somehow thought that he broke Hughes arm. For once Edward was glad for Sheska's obliviousness, so she didn’t have to hear this. He could only hope that the rumors would stop as the day went on and it became clear that he was innocent.

Edward entered their first period class, and found it mercifully empty. He knew it wouldn’t stay that way for long, but for now he had a respite from the rumors flying around. He led Sheska to her desk in the back and she looked up for the first time since she started her book. Realizing that they were in the classroom, Sheska reluctantly put down her book and turned to him.

She stared at him a few moments and seemed to sense that he wasn’t okay. “Is something wrong?” she asked him in a concerned tone.

Edward frowned and nodded. He didn’t want her to hear the rumors, but there was no way to shield her from that, so he figured that hearing it from him was best. “From what I’ve heard, Hughes is in the hospital with a broken arm.” He told her, omitting the part where everyone thought he had been the one to put him there. He was still, however childishly, clinging to the hope that people would realize he was innocent.

Sheska looked horrified. “That’s terrible.” She exclaimed. “Do you wanna visit him after school with me? We could bring Nina.” She suggested.

Edward considered it for a second. He really didn’t like hospitals, but Hughes was his friend, well kind of, and visiting him would probably make the idiot smile like a child in a candy store. “Yeah, I’m sure Nina would be happy to see Hughes.” He replied with a small smile.

* * *

 

Come the end of the school day, the rumors still hadn’t died out the way Edward had hoped, however they’d become so exaggerated that they were unbelievable.

On his way to meet with Sheska, he actually heard someone speculating that Edward was part of the Russian mafia, and was going through initiation. He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or hit his head against his locker as he grabbed his books, so he did neither, electing instead to pretend as though he hadn’t heard anything.

Edward was no longer too concerned about the rumors, as they had lost all credibility, but it was a major pain in the ass to have this much attention focused on him.

He glared at some of the people who were blatantly staring at him, but felt bad when they looked terrified. Well, okay maybe not as bad as he could’ve felt, but in all honesty they were pissing him off.

He slammed his locker shut and headed off towards the busses, to catch up with Sheska. Edward supposed that if one good thing came out of the rumors, it was the fact that walking through the hallways was no longer an Olympic sport. People, instead of standing in huge groups oblivious to the fact that they were in a hallway, were now whispering to each other off to the side of the hall.

Edward waved to Sheska when he was close enough to see her amid the students heading towards the busses. She waved back, and he sped up to reach her side.

“Hey.” he greeted her, with a smile.

Sheska smirked at him, “So what’s this about you being in the Russian mafia?” she asked him, clearly having heard the rumor he’d heard at his locker.

Edward mock glared at her. He was really glad that she only seemed to have heard the ridiculous rumors, but he wasn’t about to let her know that.

“Who’s to say that I’m not in the Russian mafia?” he asked with a nonchalant shrug.

Sheska punched him playfully on the arm. “You let Nina braid flowers into your hair, whenever she wants to, so forgive me for doubting that you’re part of the mafia.” She said in a false apologetic tone.

“Hey,” he protested. “That could just be a part of my cover.”

“Mmm, hmm, well I’ll be sure to mention to Nina how she’s just a part of your cover.” Sheska told him, and then started running in the direction of Nina’s school.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Edward shouted back at her, and then chased after her, trying to catch up.

* * *

 

Nina was overjoyed to see Sheska, when they came to pick her up.

“Is Sheska gonna play with us today?” she asked hopefully, tugging excitedly at his shirt sleeve.

Edward rubbed the top of her head affectionately. “Sorry kiddo, but today we’re not going to the park. Do you remember Hu-Maes?” he asked her, stumbling slightly over Hughes’ name.

Nina’s face lit up. “Yeah, he played with us yesterday.” She replied

“Well he got hurt and is in the hospital, so we’re going to go visit him.” Edward explained.

Nina looked sad for a moment, before brightening. “Are we going to get him flowers?” she asked.

“Sure.” He answered easily, not seeing any problem with her request.

Sheska however, started laughing. “I can’t believe you’re giving flowers to the guy you called a stalker.” She told him.

Edward just glared at her. “I’m not giving him the flowers, Nina is.”

Sheska smiled mischievously. “Okay fine, you’re just buying your stalker flowers.”

Edward rolled his eyes. “You’re hilarious, so much so that I forgot to laugh.” He said dryly.

Nina suddenly grabbed his hand, interrupting the teasing between him and Sheska. “Are we gonna go right now?” she asked impatiently.

“Yeah we’re leaving right now.” Edward told her with a smile.

* * *

 

When they reached the hospital, Nina was asleep on Edward’s back. She’d fallen asleep on the bus ride to the hospital and hadn’t woken up when they’d reached the hospital. Edward didn’t mind, as Nina wasn’t too heavy, however Sheska had been sure to sarcastically point out how he definitely looked like he was a part of the Russian mafia.

They went into the gift shop and Edward was immediately overwhelmed by the gross amounts of heart shaped confectionary, and overpowering smell of flowers. Honestly, it looked like cupid threw up and Edward was confused as to why it looked like a retail store in February. He decided to just avoid anything heart shaped and looked around for the flowers. After a few moments, he located a huge cart, full of flowers near the back.

Adjusting Nina on his back so she didn’t fall, Edward went over to the cart, while Sheska went to go look at the books on display. He considered what kind of flowers to grab, obviously he was going to get one of the cheapest bouquets, but he didn’t know if Hughes had any allergies. Yellow roses seemed the best option, as they didn’t look like something you’d get a date and allergies to roses weren’t notoriously common.

Edward shifted Nina on his back, so he could carry her with one arm, then grabbed the bunch of flowers and headed to the cluttered cashier’s desk to pay for them.

The young brunette greeted him with a smile on her face, as he laid the flowers on the counter. “Is she your sister?” the cashier asked nodding towards Nina.

Edward was about to answer that unfortunately they weren’t related, when Nina spoke up from behind him.

“Yes.” She chimed over his shoulder.

Edward turned his head slightly to look at Nina with an amused smile. Her answer really made him happy, as he did his best to be an older brother to her.

“Were you pretending to be asleep the whole time?” he asked her.

She nodded. “Yeah, I like it when you carry me.” She said giggling.

Edward just rolled his eyes. “Well hop on down, I’ve gotta pay for the flowers, and you’re making this a lot harder than it needs to be.

Nina complied, sliding down his back, and landing with a thump. Edward reached his wallet easily, now that Nina was no longer on his back, and pulled out money to pay for the flowers.

The cashier accepted the money with a smile. “Will that be all Sir?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am.” He answered, and accepted the receipt after she printed it out.

He grabbed Nina’s hand, and made his way over to Sheska, who was glaring at the bookcase like it had offended her ancestors. Edward smiled and shook his head, she’d likely found nothing to read and was now blaming the books instead of whoever had selected them.

“As entertaining it would be to see you develop heat vision and incinerate the bookshelf, we should probably leave before this place gets too crowded.” He told her amusedly.

Sheska tore her glare from the book shelf and turned it on him. “If I developed heat vision, I can assure you it would not be used to incinerate books.” She said reproachfully, then started heading towards the exit.

Edward rolled his eyes at her dramatics, and then both he and Nina followed her out of the gift shop.

* * *

 

After talking with the hospital receptionist to get Hughes’ room number, they headed up to the second floor to visit him.

Just outside of Hughes’ room Edward handed Nina the roses. “Here you go; you get to give the roses to him since it was your idea.” He told her with a smile, and she grabbed the roses eagerly.

Sheska knocked twice on the frame, before pushing on the already open door, and going inside the room. Edward waited until Nina had followed Sheska, before he entered the room as well.

In the hospital room, he saw Hughes sprawled casually across his bed, his left arm encased in a green cast that was bent at his elbow. He appeared to be watching the afternoon soap operas. To his dismay Edward also saw Mustang sitting in a chair beside Hughes’ bed, drawing on a sketch pad.

“Hey Maes.” Sheska greeted cheerily, taking a seat by his bed. “How’re you doing?”

Hughes tore his gaze from the TV and his face lit up. “Hey Sheska.” he returned warmly “I’ve been better, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.” He said breezily.

Edward frowned slightly, sensing Hughes was far worse than he let on, but said nothing. He watched from the doorway as Nina ran up to his bedside and thrust the flowers up into his face.

“We got these for you.” She told Hughes excitedly.

Hughes beamed and grabbed the flowers with his free hand. “I love them.” He told her and Nina smiled, then climbed up onto the bed with him.

“Ed picked them out.” She said proudly and pointed directly at him.

Edward felt his face grow hot and Sheska burst into laughter. He shot her a glare, silently promising retribution, but she only laughed harder.

Hughes looked at him mischievously, before batting his eyes. “Why this is all so sudden, I mean, we just met yesterday and you’re already showering me in tokens of affection.” He said in a falsetto.

Edward glared at him. “I hope those flowers make you swell up like a blimp.” He grumbled, embarrassed and highly uncomfortable.

Hughes looked at him disapprovingly. “What a terrible thing to say to someone in the hospital.” He scolded him teasingly.

“See if I buy you flowers next time you wind up in the hospital.” Edward shot back.

Mustang spoke up for the first time since they’d entered the room. “You seem so certain that he’ll wind up in the hospital Fullmetal. Some people could view that as a threat.” he said with a raise of his eyebrow.

Edward frowned. It sounded as though Mustang was insinuating that he put Hughes in the hospital. Yet, at the same time it didn’t sound menacing, so Mustang could just be acting like his jackass self. Edward decided that he’d take it what Mustang said at face value. Somehow he didn’t seem like someone who would be subtle in his attempts at finding out who hurt his friends.

“Please, he’ll probably wind up in the hospital because someone beat him up for being a creepy stalker.” Edward said flippantly, and then walked farther into the room to sit down beside Sheska, in one of the many visitor chairs.

Hughes gasped dramatically. “I am not a creepy stalker, why would you say such hurtful things to me? I’m getting very mixed signals here, first you buy me flowers and then you insult me repeatedly. What’s a guy to think?”

Edward looked up to the ceiling and rubbed a hand down his face, before looking back at Hughes. “Is today National Be A Little Shit day? He asked rhetorically. “Because everyone forgot to tell me.”

“You didn’t know?” Mustang asked sounding surprised. “Wow you sure had me fooled, I could’ve sworn you knew today was National Be A Little Shit Day.”

Edward glared and opened his mouth to reply, when Sheska interrupted.

“Edward, Roy, you are not allowed to cuss in front of children.” She said reproachfully, and looked at them as though they’d lost their minds.

Edward froze and realized that Nina was in the room, sitting on the bed right beside Hughes. He turned to look directly at her. “You are not allowed to say shit, until you’re taller than me. Got it?”

Nina looked at him innocently and shrugged. “Okay.” She agreed easily. “But I dunno what it means.” Then she hopped off the bed and went over to Sheska. “I have to pee, can you take me to the bathroom?” she asked her.

Sheska nodded, stood up, and grabbed Nina’s hand. “Sure thing, I saw a bathroom sign a little ways back.” She said with a smile and led her out of the room.

Edward looked at Hughes all traces of humor gone, now that Nina and Sheska had left. “How serious is the break?” he asked.

Hughes looked slightly surprised at the sudden change in conversation, but answered anyway. “The doctors said it was a clean break, so it should only take around six weeks to heal.”

Edward nodded, relieved. “That’s good; do you know who the culprit is?”

Mustang stood up and came to sit in the chair Sheska had vacated. “How did you know someone broke Maes arm?” he demanded suspiciously.

“The whole school knows about it, that’s how I found out that Hughes was in the hospital in the first place.” Edward said with a frown.

Mustang nodded, looking satisfied with Edward’s answer. “Maes said they were disguised, so we have no idea who is responsible. Does anyone at school have an idea of the culprit?”

“Yes, but they’re way off.” Edward answered, reluctant to elaborate. Then again, anyone would be when everyone assumed that they were the culprit, especially when the entire situation hit this close to home.

“Well even if they’re off, the information could help us find the actual culprit.” Hughes said, rubbing a hand across his chin contemplatively.

Edward rolled his eyes, trying to look as annoyed as possible. “Well considering everyone suspects me, I doubt that the information will be a lot of help.” He replied snarkily, hoping they didn’t realize how much being suspected affected him. Edward knew all too well what it was like not to have use of an arm, and he would never inflict that feeling onto anyone.

Mustang looked at him curiously. “Why does everyone suspect you?”

Edward shrugged. “Well I’m not what you would call social and the day after I “Befriend” someone, their arm gets broken. It seemed very suspicious to everyone in our school, and the fact that I don’t get along with the majority of your hockey team seemed to serve as motive.”

Hughes smiled. “I probably wouldn’t find the notion of you breaking my arm so ridiculous, if I didn’t know a five year old has you wrapped around her finger.” He said, chuckling. “Unfortunately very little of the school population know anything about you that isn’t obvious.”

Mustang started laughing “I’m sure if Maes showed the school the picture of you decked out in flowers, everyone would be singing a different tune.”

Edward turned to glare at Hughes. “How many people have you shown that picture to?” he demanded, ignoring the smug look he knew was on Mustang’s face.

“What picture?” Sheska asked from the doorway, walking into the room with Nina close behind her, clearly having just got back from the bathroom.

“The one where Fullmetal is a princess.” Mustang replied with a smirk and Edward glared at him.

Sheska looked at Edward with a confused and slightly horrified expression. “Again I ask what picture?”

“Nina covered me out in flowers yesterday and Hughes caught a picture of it. We were playing a game where I was a princess that had to be rescued from a tower.” Edward told her dryly. Sheska already knew that Nina loved putting flowers in his hair, but she wasn’t quite aware of Nina’s fondness for rescuing “damsels in distress.”

Sheska sighed in relief. “You really shouldn’t phrase things like that Roy.” She told Mustang, sternly.

Mustang raised an eyebrow. “Why, were you thinking naughty things about what the picture could be?”

Sheska looked at him like she wanted to thrash him within an inch of his life. “First off, no definitely not. Second of all, there is a child in the room.” She said in a tone of voice that sent shiver up Edward’s spine.

Mustang looked sufficiently cowed, and Edward marveled at the power Sheska wielded, to be able to make Mustang regret his actions.

Nina yawned from her place beside Sheska, and Edward stood up and pulled out his phone to check the time. He’d have to leave early to get Nina fed and home before her father got off work. “Is that a flip phone?” Mustang asked, sounding scandalized. Edward looked up and glared at him. “Yes it is a flip phone; yes I know I could easily upgrade, and yes I know you haven’t seen one in years. I’m so glad we had this conversation.” He said sarcastically, and then squawked indignantly as Mustang stood up and ripped it from his grasp.

“Give it back.” He demanded, and attempted to swipe it from Mustang.

Mustang easily dodged and took a few steps back, while doing something on his phone. Edward closed the distance between them to get his phone back, but Mustang, like the asshole he was, just lifted the phone out of Edward’s reach and continued messing with it.

Edward refused to jump for the phone, as it would be degrading and Mustang would undoubtedly be an asshole about it later. He instead elected to wait for Mustang to finish messing with his phone and just undo the damage when he got it back.

Mustang smirked when he was done and handed Edward his phone back. “You’re welcome by the way.” He said condescendingly and Edward had to resist the urge to kick Mustang in the shin.

He grabbed his phone and shoved it into his pocket, not giving Mustang the pleasure of watching him search his phone for whatever the bastard had done. “I hope you get your finger stuck doing something stupid, and the firefighters have to be called to rescue you.” He told Mustang, having to be creative in wishing him misfortune, seeing as it would be inappropriate to tell Mustang to fuck off and die with Nina in the room.

Mustang smiled a shit-eating smirk. “That’s awfully specific, and now I’m highly unlikely to stick my fingers in anything, since you said that.” He said tauntingly.

Edward stuck his tongue out at Mustang, and then turned to look at Nina, as she hadn’t spoken through the whole ordeal. The poor kid looked exhausted, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

“You ready to go home Nina?” He asked her gently.

Nina nodded sleepily and Edward walked over and picked her up. She laid her head on his shoulder and seemed to fall asleep instantly.

“We should go.” He told Sheska.

Sheska nodded and went over and grabbed their bags. “Bye Maes, bye Roy.” She said, and they both chorused goodbye in return.

“Bye Hughes.” Edward called over his shoulder, pointedly ignoring Mustang. He knew it was childish, but it felt good to give Mustang a taste of his own medicine, especially after he’d been such a jack ass.

They left the hospital room and headed down and out of the building, to take a bus home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr account just for this story where I post art and teasers, so if anyone is interest it's kris-weilder-of-the-pen.tumblr.com


	4. On the Flipside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the unofficially late update. School, applying for jobs, and almost zero accesibility to a computer, got in the way. However, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. so i hope you enjoy.

Edward was exhausted. From start to finish his day had been taxing and right now he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep. Unfortunately dinner had yet to be made and if he fell asleep, there was no way he was going to wake back up.

He rolled over on his bed and propped himself up with his elbows, so he wouldn’t fall asleep, and groaned loudly. If he didn’t find something trivial to occupy his mind then he would be out like a light, but he didn’t tend to spend time on anything that wasn’t productive.

Winry and Sheska were downstairs, as Edward had just taken Nina home just a few minutes ago, so Edward decided to join them. He dragged himself out of bed and walked downstairs to the living room, but stopped when he heard what sounded like a group of people, coming from the dining room.

He changed direction, heading towards the noise rather than the living room.

When he got to the dining room Edward was greeted with the sight of a bunch of people who looked to be around his age. Then again, Edward wasn’t sure though, as he was terrible at determining people’s age.

He saw Alphonse and Winry standing among the group, and headed towards them.

“Hey what’s going on?” Edward asked when he reached their side. It was a strange sight, with Alphonse looking a mix between amused and irritated, and Winry appearing as though she’d seen the rapture.

Alphonse was the first to respond. “It seems as though Winry has fallen in love with Paninya’s prosthetics.” He said nodding his head in the direction of a girl with short black hair tied back in a low ponytail.

Edward looked at the girl, confused, as Alphonse’s answer had just raised more questions. “Paninya” sat in one of the kitchen chairs with her legs propped up as Winry gushed over therm. Her camouflage pants were rolled up to the knee, revealing two metal prosthetic legs.

Edward examined them from a distance and frowned in contemplation. The prosthetics appeared to be made out of something other than steel, and were overly reinforced at the knees. However it appeared that neither affected the full range of motion of the limbs.

Winry suddenly turned to him, with a predatory look in her eyes. “Ed look, her limbs are made of a higher percentage of aluminum and carbon fiber, which makes them a lot lighter. Not only that but she has weapons built into her prosthetics.” She told him excitedly and Edward could see the unspoken question in her eyes.

It was obvious that Winry wanted to design a new arm and leg for him, but while Edward was fine with his prosthetics being lighter, he really didn’t want any weapons built into his limbs. He decided his best choice of action would be to escape now and let her pester him about it later.

“Actually, I was looking for Sheska, did she go home?” he asked, lying straight through his teeth. He hadn’t noticed Sheska in the room, and he figured he could always ask Alphonse what all the people had been doing at their house, later.

Winry’s face fell slightly, likely at his obvious dismissal, but still answered. “I left her in the living room, so she should still be there.”

Edward nodded and escaped the kitchen, then headed towards the living room. There he found Sheska sulking on the couch staring at the paused TV screen.

He plopped down on the couch beside her, and she looked up, startled.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, flicking her right where her forehead wrinkled from pouting. S

heska rubbed her forehead where she’d been flicked. “Nothing.” She replied, in a way that conveyed the exact opposite.

Edward nodded as though he believed her. “Okay then, so why’s your movie paused?” He asked nonchalantly.

Sheska glared at the TV with an intensity that made Edward wonder if she was going to fly across the room and break it. “I’m waiting for Winry.” She said sullenly. “She’s in the kitchen with Al, and his friends.”

“I’m sure she’ll be back soon, there’s only so long she can ask Paninya about her prosthetics before Alphonse kicks her out. He was looking pretty irritated at her nonstop gushing, when I left.” Edward said to reassure Sheska, but it only seemed to darken her mood.

If he didn’t know any better he’d say that Sheska seemed almost jealous. The only other time she’d acted like this before was when Hughes wouldn’t stop saying that Edward and Winry were dating and…wait; Sheska didn’t like Winry, did she? It couldn’t be, and yet it all seemed to make perfect sense.

“You like Winry, don’t you?” Edward blurted out, unable to keep his revelations to himself. He had never been the best at subtly, especially not in situations like this.

Sheska’s skin darkened as she blushed and her eyes widened, giving her the appearance of a deer in the headlights. “Wh-what? Why would you think that?” she stammered out.

Edward smiled, his suspicions having been confirmed by her reaction. “You like Winry.” He teased her in a singsong voice.

“I do not!” she hissed defensively at him, before turning to check that the doorway was empty.

Edward shrugged nonchalantly. “Okay then, I guess I just won’t be able to find out if she feels the same way.” He said, hoping it would get her to confess.

It was surprisingly effective, as Sheska looked torn. If she took him up on his offer, then she was admitting that she had feelings for Winry, but if she refused him, then she was passing up a chance to see if Winry liked her back.

“You’d be fine with us dating?” she finally asked incredulously, nervously pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Edward pretended to think it over, but in actuality he was completely on board with it. Sure the two of them would probably be ridiculously disgusting with all their blatant affection, what with the way they already couldn’t stay away from each other, but he knew that they’d be good together.

Actually now that he thought about it, it seemed obvious that they liked each other and he was kinda pissed at himself for not realizing it until now. Well, he could always ask Alphonse if he knew about Sheska's crush on Winry and gauge his own stupidity by his brother’s reaction.

“I guess I could allow it.” Edward told her in a faux grudging voice, and by Sheska's smile, it seemed she knew he was just messing with her.

“So you’ll find out if Winry likes me back?” she asked hopefully, and Edward had to smile. Of course he’d find out about Winry, but first he was going to have some fun with this.

“I don’t know, I mean, it all depends on if you actually like her.” He said teasingly.

Sheska suddenly looked like she very much wanted to kill him, and Edward couldn’t help the amusement that washed over him. This was just way too fun.

“Edward Elric, you already know that I do, and I’m not going to play your sick game.” Sheska told him, threateningly.

Edward laughed. He really shouldn’t be in any position of power, but Sheska could undoubtedly hold her own so he wasn’t feeling too guilty. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” He conceded, at least for now, as he’d definitely tease her about this later.

Sheska threw him one last glare, seeming to see straight through his bullshit, before standing up. “I’m going to go get something to drink, and see if Winry is going to come back and watch the movie.” She announced, and then left the living room.

“Don’t drink up all my juice!” he shouted to her. “Remember, you don’t live here, despite your seemingly permanent residence!”

Sheska stuck her head back through the doorway. “You know what, juice seems great right now, I think I’ll grab a cup.” She said with a mischievous smirk, and then, judging by the rapid sound of footsteps, ran to the kitchen.

Edward stood up to follow her. “Dammit Sheska.” He grumbled. He probably shouldn’t have teased her as much as he did, because Sheska didn’t mess around when it came to revenge. Drinking up all his orange juice would just be the first step in her plan to get back at him.

* * *

 

It had been three day since Hughes’ arm had been broken. In that time, Hughes had been released from the hospital, and the hockey team had resumed practicing. They’d had to find a replacement for Hughes, and Maria Ross was the one they’d chosen.

Edward had to admit, that from his spot on the bench she seemed really good. Sheska had stopped coming to school early, since she was no longer a library aide, so Hughes had managed to convince him to sit and watch the hockey team practice with him, since he couldn’t practice due to his arm.

“She’s really good, Mustang is gonna have to fight hard to keep his captain’s spot.” Edward told Hughes, as he watched Ross effortlessly score goal after goal. She was easily distinguishable due to her short stature compared to the other players on the team, but appeared twice as fearsome.

Beside him Hughes started laughing. “Nah, Roy goes easy during practices; trust me he’s more than a match for her. There’s a reason opposing teams call him The Flame.”

Edward furrowed his brow. It seemed more insulting than complimentary to be called the flame, when you played a sport on ice. However, he decided not to voice this opinion, since he’d never seen Mustang play for real.

“What if Ross is also going easy?” Edward asked Hughes with a raised eyebrow. It wasn’t impossible, and Edward remembered Winry telling him that girls had to be at least three times as good the guys, just to be recognized as their equals.

Hughes grew somber. “Then we are very lucky that she’s not on an opposing team.” He replied, in a hushed tone.

Edward smiled at his fear. He enjoyed watching people come to grips with exactly how terrifying and absolutely badass women were. Though he would’ve that Hughes was more aware of this fact, since he hung around Hawkeye.

They watched the hockey team in silence until Hughes turned to him. “Do you think you’d be any good at hockey since you ice skate?” He asked curiously.

Edward shook his head. “No, I’m not good with high contact sports.” He replied and it wasn’t entirely untrue. Edward could easily hold his own in a high contact sport, but people would discover he had prosthetics if they were constantly ramming into his shoulders, and Winry would kill him if his prosthetics were damaged. Besides he wasn’t really interested in any ice related sports that weren’t ice skating.

Hughes nodded, an understanding expression on his face. “Yeah, you look like one hit would send you flying.”

Edward inwardly bristled at what Hughes said, but did nothing to deny the accusation. Better that people underestimate him, especially since someone broke Hughes’ arm.

Edward shrugged. “Flexibility is more my area of expertise and that doesn’t require immense muscle buildup, so I see no reason to try to bulk up.” he responded.

Hughes suddenly looked interested. “I’ve heard that ice skating is typically more difficult for guys since they’re not as flexible as girls, is that true?”

Edward laughed at that. “It’s a myth. Anyone can be flexible; you just have to work at it, if it doesn’t come naturally.” He replied amusedly. It was a common misconception, and many skaters, both guys and girls, insisted that they weren’t flexible enough for certain moves. Edward had yet to encounter any move that he couldn’t do, because he wasn’t flexible enough, though there’d been times he’d had to work at increasing his flexibility for a few weeks before he could successfully pull off certain moves. Few skaters it seemed were willing to push themselves as far as they could go.

Hughes made a face. “That sounds painful, increasing your flexibility.”

“It is, but it’s worth it, and once you reach a certain level of flexibility, the only thing you have to do is maintain it.” Edward assured Hughes.

Hughes suddenly got a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Do you mind if I make a bet about you with Jean?” He asked.

Edward frowned, confused for a moment, until he remembered Havoc, the blond who like placing bets. “Sure, I don’t see why not.” He replied easily. It would be amusing to see what exactly Hughes wanted to bet on and why he wanted to bet Havoc.

Hughes grinned. “Thanks, oh hey did you hear, apparently we’re finally getting an actual hockey coach, instead of just having the archery coach yelling at us to skate faster.”

“Are you serious?” Edward asked, excited for Hughes, but at the same time slightly jealous. It was great that the hockey team was getting a coach, but since Edward was the only figure skater at the school, no one saw the point in getting him a coach. Then again they also couldn’t be bothered to check if the rink supervisor actually did her job, so really getting the hockey team a coach was revolutionary.

Hughes nodded “Yeah, and it’s not just the hockey team, there are two coaches coming. One will coach the hockey team and the other will coach you!” he exclaimed, looking as though he was giving the best news of his life, and in Edward’s case it was.

His jaw dropped, and he was too stunned to respond. He was getting a coach, an actual coach. The school was actually getting him a coach. “When? When are they coming?” he demanded.

Hughes laughed at his obvious enthusiasm, but Edward was too excited to care.

“I’m not sure, and the rest of the team doesn’t even know. The only reason I know about this is because I was eavesdropping.” Hughes admitted unashamedly.

Edward was ecstatic. With a coach he would be able to improve, and practice moves that were too dangerous to attempt to try out by himself (Not that that had ever stopped him before.) “This is awesome!” he exclaimed, unable to contain all his excitement.

“What’s awesome?” a voice that Edward immediately recognized as Mustang’s, asked.

Edward looked away from Hughes and towards the edge of the rink where Mustang stood. It seemed Hughes hadn’t been lying about Mustang’s skill level, as he wasn’t winded from practice. Edward looked him over critically, but discovered nothing to indicate that Mustang was anything other than a great player. There was no ice on his blue hockey uniform to show that he’d fallen, he didn’t appear to be sweating, and despite the fact that it had been in a helmet, his hair was completely unruffled (Edward thought that the last part was completely unfair).

“I told Ed, about the new coaches that are coming.” Hughes replied from beside him.

Mustang smirked. “You’re so childish sometimes Fullmetal, who still says awesome anymore?”

Edward scowled at him, it hadn’t even been a full minute since Mustang had come over to them, and yet he’d already managed to get under his skin. “I say awesome, and there’s nothing childish about it.” He said defensively.

Mustang raised an eyebrow. “Whatever you say Fullmetal.” He replied skeptically, and then turned to Hughes. “Looks like I owe you and Jean money.”

Edward felt his irritation fade and looked back and forth between Hughes and Mustang. “You guys give Havoc a lot of shit for placing bets, but it seems that you guys make just as many as he does.” He told them amusedly.

Mustang glared at him, and Edward couldn’t help feeling victorious at getting a rise out of him.

“So what’d you guys bet on?” he asked, curiously.

Hughes smiled smugly while Mustang looked uncomfortable. “Whether or not you’d stay to watch the hockey team practice.” Hughes replied easily. “Both Jean and I bet that you would stay, while Roy bet that you wouldn’t.”

Edward smiled at that. Wow this day was going a lot better than he’d expected, as he’d managed to unknowingly make Mustang lose a bet. He smirked at Mustang, who in return rolled his eyes.

Mustang turned and skated towards the opening in the rink, exiting it and walked towards them to sit on the bench. He sat down on the bench, thankfully next to Hughes and not Edward, and then began unlacing his skates.

Hughes turned back to face Edward, with a hopeful expression on his face. “So, since tomorrow is Saturday and Sheska told me you don’t babysit, would you like to hang out with us?” he asked.

Edward thought about it before giving an immediate answer, unlike he had last time Hughes had asked him to go somewhere. He didn’t actually have any plans for tomorrow, other than sleeping in and he’d actually gotten to know Hughes, so really he had no objection. He supposed hanging out with Hughes wouldn’t be too bad, although he knew if Mustang came, he would be a pain in the ass like always.

“Who’s all coming?” he asked curiously. He was on the verge of accepting Hughes’ invitation, but he wanted to know who he’d be hanging out with before he agreed.

Hughes’ face lit up, most likely at the fact that his invitation hadn’t flat out been rejected. “It’ll be me, Riza, Roy, Jean, Sheska, and my pretty girlfriend Gracia.” He replied, his signature lovesick smile on his face when he mentioned Gracia.

Edward nodded, and then got an idea. If Sheska was going to hang out with them, then Winry would probably shut herself in her house to work on designing new prosthetics. However, if Winry came to hang out with them, then she’d hang out with Sheska, giving him time to observe her. Now that he was aware of the situation, Edward would likely be able to figure out if Winry returned Sheska's feelings, without asking straight out.

“Sure, I’ll go, but can I bring two people?” He asked. Alphonse would most likely want to come as well and meet everyone, especially if Winry was coming. Despite winry and edward being the closest age wise, Alphonse had always had a deeper bond with Winry, than Edward had.

Hughes looked as though he’d been told there was a million dollars in his pocket, disbelieving, but exceptionally pleased. “Of course!” he exclaimed excitedly. “So who are you gonna bring?”

Edward smiled at Hughes’ enthusiasm. “Winry and my little brother, Alphonse.” He replied.

“That’s adorable, is your brother around Nina’s age?” Hughes asked with a sappy grin.

Edward gave Hughes a look of confusion and disbelief. What the hell gave him the idea that Alphonse was five years old? “No, he’s fourteen and a freshman. He goes to this school.”

Mustang burst into laughter, and Hughes looked stunned. “You’re brother goes to this school?” he asked incredulously.

Edward sighed, exasperated. “Yes, I just said that. Unfortunately neither of us share any classes, or even a lunch period, so Alphonse eats lunch with Winry.”

“How is it that you have a fourteen year old brother, and yet your social skills are as piss poor as they are?” Mustang asked amusedly, and Edward glared at him.

“My social skills are perfectly fine, you’re all just assholes, and I don’t want to expend any energy pretending otherwise.” He replied. It wasn’t true, but at this point he would argue with Mustang about the color of the sky, just to avoid proving him right.

Mustang rolled his eyes. “Keep telling yourself that, Fullmetal.”

“Hey, Roy!” one of the hockey players suddenly called from across the rink. “We’re going to change, you coming?”

Mustang stood up and grabbed his skates. “See you at lunch Maes.” He told Hughes then left without another word.

Edward glared at Mustang’s retreating back. Once was an anomaly, but twice was a pattern and Mustang had completely ignored him twice. Edward had a feeling that this was going to become a ritual between them.

* * *

 

Sheska was still getting back at him for teasing her, that much was obvious when she’d made sure that he’d wound up sitting next to Mustang at lunch.

He glared at her from across the table, while she stared, innocently, back at him. This was really getting out of hand, it had been three days and she had yet to relent. Edward knew that she was enjoying herself, watching him suffer, but this time she’d gone too far.

Mustang kept pointedly looking down anytime he turned to say something to Edward, and it was really pissing him off. Edward knew that Mustang was doing it on purpose, and that as soon as he said anything about it, Mustang would be a total jackass and point out how short he was.

The entire table appeared to be waiting for something to happen, watching both him and Mustang, as though they were bombs, set to explode.

Edward pulled out his lunch and started stuffing his face, taking advantage of the awkward silence to actually eat something. He’d learned that if you wanted to actually eat anything while sitting with everyone, you took advantage of the lulls in the conversation to eat as much as possible.

“Your manners are atrocious, Fullmetal.” Mustang admonished, looking down at him in disdain.

Edward flipped him off, seeing as his mouth was too full to coherently tell Mustang to fuck off.

Mustang smirked and grabbed a handful of trail mix from Edward’s bag, then started eating it.

Edward swallowed harshly, wincing as it went down. “Keep your grubby hands out of my trail mix, you greedy bastard.” He snapped at Mustang, and moved his trail mix out of reach.

Mustang smirked and pointedly ate more trail mix. “Make, me.” He shot back, and then snatched the bag out of Edward’s hand.

“I hope you choke on that trail mix.” Edward snapped, making no move to attempt to grab the trail mix. Mustang was holding it high above his head, as he seemed to have realized that Edward wasn’t about to demonstrate just how short he was, and attempt to retrieve it.

“Roy, stop. You’re acting childish.” Hawkeye reprimanded Mustang from her spot beside Havoc.

Edward would’ve been a lot more thankful for her intervention, had Hawkeye not looked so amused by the situation.

Edward shot Sheska a look to make her feel guilty, and mouthed ‘this is all your fault’ to her. Sheska just smiled back, looking exceptionally proud of herself.

Edward decided that when he and Sheska were next alone, he was going to mercilessly tease her, no holds barred.

Hughes slung his good arm around Edward. “Don’t worry, Ed. You can have some of my lunch.” He said, likely attempting to reassure him.

Edward wrinkled his nose in distaste at Hughes’ lunch and shrugged off his arm. It was a pile of limp iceberg lettuce, next to an overly greasy slice of cheese pizza, and a bruised banana. “Thanks but I’ll pass.” He replied. There was no way that any of that would taste good, not to mention the nutritional value was likely non-existent. “I will however, take your spork.” He told Hughes and snagged it off his tray.

He reached into his lunch box and pulled out the small Tupperware that he’d filled with peanut butter. Normally when he ate trail mix, he always saved the banana chips for last and then dipped them in the peanut butter, but seeing as Mustang had his trail mix, he couldn’t do that.

Edward opened up the Tupperware and then proceeded to eat the peanut butter. While it tasted good, it wasn’t a food that was meant to be eaten alone, which meant he had quite a bit of difficulty swallowing. He ran his tongue across the roof of his mouth and pursed his lips so he could swallow all of the peanut butter. After most of it had been swallowed he ran his tongue across his teeth to get the remaining peanut butter, and then took another bite. Mustang apparently found the sight of him eating peanut butter amusing, as he began snickering.

Edward glared at him and flipped Mustang off for the second time. Honestly it was Mustang’s fault that he had to eat nothing but peanut butter, so the fact that he was laughing really pissed him off.

Unfortunately, it seemed everyone at the lunch table found the exchange hilarious and collectively burst into laughter.

Edward resisted the urge to flip everyone off, and instead took advantage of the fact that Mustang wasn’t paying attention to steal his water bottle.

Edward took a swig once he’d swiped it and grimaced as whatever was inside of it washed down the peanut butter. The flavors contrasted sharply, and Edward had a feeling that it was Gatorade. Sometimes, Mustang was the epitome of a stereotypical jock.

“You’re all assholes.” He grumbled, once his mouth was free of peanut butter.

Everyone slowly stopped laughing once they saw he was no longer eating, and Edward glared at them the entire, time.

When everyone was finished laughing, Mustang had yet to discover that his water bottle was missing, so Edward decided to have a bit of fun. He raised the water bottle into the air. “Does anyone want this? It doesn’t go very well with peanut butter.”

Mustang immediately swiped the water bottle out of Edward’s hand, and gave him a look of disgust. “You drank out of my water bottle?!” he exclaimed, appalled, and then began wiping the lid off on his shirt.

“I wouldn’t have needed to, had you not stolen my trail mix.” Edward shot back defensively.

“You got peanut butter on the lid.” Mustang angrily protested, then finished wiping his water bottle, set it on the table, and grabbed a handful of trail mix.

Edward opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly found his mouth full, as Mustang had shoved the trail mix into his mouth.Edward struggled to spit it out, but Mustang kept his hand over Edward’s mouth. He swallowed the mouth of trail mix painfully, and then licked Mustang’s hand to get him to remove it from his face.

Mustang however, seemed unperturbed by having his hand licked and only raised an eyebrow in return. “I’ve got to say Fullmetal; your company is much more enjoyable when you’re not talking.” Mustang said, sounding highly amused.

Edward glared venomously, and then pinched Mustang’s arm. If disgust wouldn’t make Mustang remove his hand, then pain should do the trick. Besides, Mustang deserved it for being a jackass.

Edward was right as Mustang immediately withdrew his hand, and rubbed at the spot where Edward had pinched him.

“Why the hell would you shove trail mix down my throat, you asshole?” Edward demanded hoarsely, and rubbed a hand across his mouth to remove the spit the excess spit.

“Why would you drink out of my water bottle, when there are plenty of milk cartons at this table?” Mustang countered, then looked at his hand, disgusted, and wiped it on his pants.

“Because milk is fucking gross.” Edward replied vehemently.

Mustang smirked. “I see, no wonder you’re so short.” He said smugly.

Edward felt the vein in his forehead twitch, and had to actively restrain himself from punching Mustang in the face. “I’m not fucking short.” He growled, clenching his fists.

Mustang pointedly looked down at Edward. “Of course not, please forgive me. I wonder where I would get such a ridiculous notion.” He apologized, condescendingly.

“Hey now, we’re all friends here.” Hughes interrupted before Edward could formulate a reply. He slung his good arm across Edward’s shoulders and dragged him slightly away from Mustang. “How would you like to see a picture of Elicia? She’s Gracia’s little sister, and she’s just the cutest thing ever!” Hughes asked excitedly, and then pulled out his phone.

Before Edward could protest, there was a picture of a little girl with big green eyes, and short dirty blonde hair pulled back into high pigtails, in front of his face. She looked like a miniature version of Gracia, and he had to admit, she was adorable.

“She’s pretty cute.” Edward told Hughes with a smile. “How long have you and Gracia been dating?” he asked curiously. Hughes knew, and was very fond of Gracia’s little sister, which likely meant that he had met her family and spent time with them. From what Edward had seen, only relationships that were serious reached that point, and Hughes seemed completely and utterly devoted to Gracia.

“It’ll be three years this December.” Hughes replied his lovesick smile back in place. “You’ll get to meet her tomorrow and I just know you’ll love her.”

“Wait, you’re actually going to hang out with everyone, tomorrow?” Sheska asked incredulously, speaking up before Edward had a chance to comment.

Edward turned and scowled at her. “Yes, and was your tone of disbelief really necessary? It’s not like I never leave the house, and besides, me and you hang out all the time.”

Sheska smiled playfully. “And by hang out, you mean you sit with me and Winry while we watch movies in your living room.” She said blithely.

“You do realize that I could kick you two out of my house at any time, right?” Edward asked with the raise of an eyebrow.

Sheska laughed in reply. “Winry wouldn’t let you get two words in before she threw a wrench at you, and anyway, Alphonse would never kick us out.” She told him smugly.

Edward frowned and said nothing. She had a point, although he’d never actually kick the two girls out of his house and was just glad that Sheska hadn’t called him on his bluff. At least this way he had a shred of dignity left.

Sheska smiled victoriously, when Edward failed to verbalize a response, so he stuck his tongue out at her.

Beside him, Mustang suddenly coughed, but it sounded suspiciously like he’d said childish.

Edward turned back to glare at him. “I heard that.” He said pointedly and Mustang smirked.

“Heard what?” He asked innocently, and Edward narrowed his eyes.

He wasn’t buying Mustang’s innocent act for a second, but if mustang wanted to play then Edward was going to play.

“I very distinctly heard you say that you couldn’t kiss, and I’ve gotta say, that isn’t something you should be broadcasting.” Edward lied, easily. Childish sounded very similar to I can’t kiss, especially when covered by a cough.

Mustang scowled at him, and the entire table burst into laughter.

Edward smiled. There was nothing better than watching things backfire, especially when they backfired on jackasses like Mustang.

“I recommend that you buy hearing aids, as I very clearly called you childish. Or maybe, you’re just too close to the ground to hear my impeccable pronunciation, in which case I recommend that you drink your milk.” Mustang shot back smugly.

Edward clenched his fists and felt irritation churn in his stomach. “Who’re you calling a midget so small that he can’t hear because his cochlea’s too small!? Edward exclaimed in a fit of rage.

Mustang smirked. “You.” He replied simply.

“Fuck off and die.” Edward grumbled, fuming. Mustang had yet again managed to use a situation to his advantage, despite it initially having been against him.

* * *

 

The rest of lunch consisted of mindless bickering between Edward and Roy, with Sheska and Hawkeye reprimanding them, and Hughes keeping things from getting downright explosive.

When the bell rang, releasing everyone from lunch, Edward found that despite Mustang being a huge bastard, he was actually reluctant to head back to class. Three days he had know these people, and already they’d grown n him to the point where he was looking forward to hanging out with everyone tomorrow. He shook his head, bemused. He supposed that Alphonse was right, and Edward had definitely exaggerated about how bad everyone was. Then again, they could all turn out to be absolutely insane, but at this point, it was too late for Edward to disembark the crazy train.


	5. Happiness is like Dewdrops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm so sorry about how late this is. While I had the whole chapter planned out, my teachers decided that homework is Jesus and we all need salvation. Originally this chapter was going to be twice the size it is now, but since I was so late in updating, I figured you guys would prefer a short fluffy chapter, rather than a long ass chapter that ends on a cliffhanger.

Edward had been asleep until that damned phone call. He’d been sleeping very soundly but the overly shrill default ringtone that blared through his dark room, had jolted him awake.

Edward glared bleary-eyed at his phone, then picked it up and answered it, so it would shut up. “What do you want?” he growled angrily into the phone. If it was a fucking telemarketer, then Edward was going to throw his phone at the nearest wall.

“I see you’re not a morning person, Fullmetal.” A smug voice replied, and Edward’s glare grew more venomous as he realized it was Mustang calling.

“How the fuck, do you have my phone number!?” Edward exclaimed and then dropped his head back on his pillows. If he fell asleep while talking to Mustang, then it served the bastard right, for calling him, at what Edward could only assume was the ass-crack of dawn. Honestly, it was his day to sleep in, but of course Mustang would manage to ruin that.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you never checked your phone after what transpired at the hospital.” Mustang said amusedly. Edward glared bitterly at the wall across from him, and didn’t dignify Mustang with a response.

It wasn’t his fault that he’d forgotten about the phone incident, he had better things to remember than Mustang being an asshole and stealing his phone.

“Well I put both Maes’ and my number into your phone and then sent a text to both of our phones, so we got your number. I figured it’d be easier to keep a leash on you if we could contact you.” Mustang continued, despite a lack of response from Edward.

“What the hell! I’m not a fucking dog.” Edward yelled into the phone. “And I really misjudged the two of you, seeing as I labeled Hughes as the stalker.”

Mustang laughed on the other side of the phone. “Ouch Fullmetal, that really stings, but I’ll be sure to mention to Maes that you think he’s a stalker.”

Edward growled wordlessly, and weighed the pros and cons of throwing his phone as hard as he could at the wall. Unfortunately the cons outweighed the pros, so Edward sighed and asked, “What the hell do you want? I was sleeping, and if you don’t mind, I would very much like to continue doing so.”

“I was going to ask you what time you wanted us to come pick you up. Both Riza and I have a car, so there’s more than enough room for everyone to fit.” Mustang replied cheerily, most likely enjoying Edward’s irritation.

Edward froze at the mention of a having to ride in a car. An onslaught of horror and nausea suddenly over took him, and he had to fight hard to keep everything down. No, there was no way he could ride in a car. He hadn’t been able to since the accident, and he probably never would be able to again.

“No.” Edward said hoarsely into the phone. “No car.”

“Fullmetal, is something wrong?” Mustang asked, sounding almost concerned, and it was that, that brought Edward back from the edge.

“No, it’s nothing.” He replied into the phone, his voice almost completely normal. “Where are you guys headed first? I can take the bus there and meet up with you.”

Edward heard shuffling over the phone and then a sigh. “You’re being ridiculous, but we’re headed to the mall first. Do Winry, Sheska, and Alphonse want to be picked up? Or are they taking the bus as well?” Mustang asked, not questioning Edward further about what was wrong.

For that Edward felt something almost akin to gratitude for Mustang. “They’ll probably want a ride, but since _they’re asleep_ , I can’t ask them.” Edward said, empasizing the asleep part in hope that Mustang would take the hint.

He pulled the phone away from his ear and checked the time, squinting at the bright screen. The clock read five twenty six, which was way too early for any self-respecting person to be up on a Saturday, but since it was Mustang that was on the phone, Edward wasn’t too surprised. “I’ll call you in three hours and let you know.” Edward continued.

He heard a brief rustling, and then an embarrassed cough. “Okay, sounds good.” Mustang replied.

Edward narrowed his eyes, as he tried to guess what the rustling was. “Did you just nod your head yes? You do realize that it’s not very effective over the phone, right?”

“Goodbye Fullmetal.” Mustang said irritably, and then with a beep, the call ended.

Edward glared at his phone for a minute, unable to fully take pride in the fact that he’d gotten under Mustang’s skin so easily. He sat up and threw his phone down on his bed, before running his left hand down his face. There was no way he was going back to sleep now, not with his nerves the way they were, so he decided to take a shower.

He stood up and grabbed a pair of clean boxers, tank top, and his oil can, and then headed to the downstairs bathroom so as not to wake anyone up.

* * *

 

Edward sat on the couch, his damp hair spilling across the towel he’d thrown over his bare shoulders, and began oiling his arm, using a rag he’d grabbed from the kitchen drawer. If he didn’t frequently oil his arm and leg, they would rust, and Winry had gotten on his case too many times to count for not oiling his prosthetics as soon as he got out of the shower, so it had become a ritual for him.

Once he had finished his arm, he started on his leg, which wasn’t as difficult, seeing as the prosthetic stopped just above the knee. Oiling his limbs was simple enough, but keeping the oil from getting on everything was a different matter. Wearing white was near impossible, and he had to throw his dirty clothes in a bathtub filled with baking soda and water before washing them, to remove all the oil.

It was partially because of this that he stuck to darker, stronger, colors like bright reds and navy blues. He supposed that he wouldn’t have such a difficult time, if he took Winry’s advice and wore shorts and t-shirts, but he hated the looks of pity he got from people, when they saw his limbs and numerous scars.

Edward set down the oil can and rag, done oiling both limbs, then threw his damp hair up in a messy top knot and donned his black tank top. He stood up and stretched, groaning as he felt his body pop and crack. He felt much better now, his routine having relaxed him, and decided he could handle a cup of coffee.

With a contented sigh, Edward headed into the kitchen, checking the clock on the microwave as he walked past. He was surprised to see that it was later than he’d thought, with the clock reading seven thirteen. He smiled, as everyone would be up soon and decided to make them breakfast.

Edward changed the coffee filter and put fresh grounds in, making sure not to make it as strong as he normally took it. Izumi often complained that he made coffee thicker than mud, and Alphonse refused to even look at the coffee Edward brewed, so he toned it down to make sure they’d actually drink it.

He grabbed the empty pot and began filling it in the sink, all the way up to the brim, so everyone could grab some. Making sure he didn’t spill any, Edward walked the full pot back to the coffee maker and poured the water into the compartment, then slid the pot back into place and turned it on.

With that done Edward dug around through the cupboards, looking for a pan to make pancakes with.

* * *

 

The smell of coffee permeated the house, as Edward expertly flipped a pancake to add to the ever growing stack he’d made. He didn’t know exactly when Sheska and Winry would and take over their house, since he was rarely up before noon on the weekends, but he figured they’d make it in time for breakfast, so he was making more than enough for everyone.

Edward smiled as he heard a door open upstairs and turned around to watch the entryway to the kitchen. He’d just put fresh batter in the pan, so it would be a minute before the pancake had to be flipped.

There were quick footsteps on the stairs and then Alphonse burst into the kitchen brandishing a large pillow.

Edward just stared at his little brother in shock. Why the hell was Alphonse carrying a pillow?

“Good morning.” Alphonse greeted him, looking abashed, and slowly lowered the pillow once he seemed to realize that there was no reason to bludgeon anyone to a feathery death.

Edward raised an eyebrow. “Do I even want to know why you have a pillow?” he asked amusedly. “Or why you would think it was necessary, when you woke up to the smell of pancakes?”

His brother shook his head. “Probably not.” He replied, as he tossed the pillow into the hallway, and then smirked and pointed behind Edward, towards the pan. “You might want to check on the pan.”

Edward felt his eyes widen. “Shit!” he exclaimed, and then whirled around to do damage control. The top of the pancake was filled with air bubbles, and Edward quickly flipped the pancake, expecting the bottom to be completely burnt. Luckily, the pancake was only slightly darker than the others, and Edward gave himself a mental pat on the back for remembering to turn down the heat.

Alphonse walked farther into the kitchen, and Edward watched him out of the corner of his eye, as his brother approached the coffee pot and regarded it suspiciously.

“Don’t worry; I made it for everyone, so it’s not too strong for you.” He reassured Alphonse, who shot him a grateful look in return.

“Thanks, so what apocalyptic event occurred, that managed to get you out of bed before noon?” Alphonse asked him teasingly, as he reached for a coffee cup in one of the taller cupboards.

Edward rolled his eyes, and slid the now cooked pancake onto the plate with all the others. “Mustang decided to be a jackass and called me at five thirty asking if anyone needed a ride to the mall, for when we hang out later. I couldn’t get back to sleep after that, so I took a shower and decided to make breakfast.”

Alphonse shot him a concerned look, and Edward smiled reassuringly at him in return. His brother was all too aware of Edward’s fear of cars, as he’d had to wake him up from the nightmares he got all too often. The accident had left not only physical scars, but emotional scars as well, and Edward knew that his brother would do anything to try and help him when things got bad.

“I’m fine Al, don’t worry. I told him that I was taking the bus, but I’d ask you guys if you’d rather catch a ride with him, and call him back when I got an answer.” He told his brother gently, then stepped away from the stove and headed towards the fridge.

Alphonse nodded; looking relieved, and then smiled slyly. “How exactly do you have Roy’s phone number in your phone?” he asked coyly.

Edward opened the fridge and grabbed the other pack of eggs they’d bought earlier in the week, before he answered. “He stole my phone while I was visiting Hughes in the hospital and programmed his number, along with Hughes’, into my phone.” He replied, shooting Alphonse an unimpressed look. He wasn’t sure exactly what Alphonse was trying to imply, but he knew that he was implying something.

He carried the eggs back to the stove and began greasing down the pan, to make sure they didn’t stick to the pan. He hated when bits of egg stuck to the pan and then burned, as it smelled terrible.

“You gonna want any eggs?” He asked his brother, while heading to the sink to rinse the vegetable oil off of his hands.

Alphonse looked at him, like he was insane and pointed to the huge stack of pancakes. “You’re making eggs, after you made that many pancakes? How are we supposed to eat all of this?” he asked incredulously.

“Calm down, I made enough for everyone here, plus Winry and Sheska. Trust me I know what I’m doing.” Edward told Al, with a grin.

Alphonse visibly relaxed. “Oh, I thought you were just making breakfast for the two of us.” He explained sheepishly, blushing as though he’d realized what a ridiculous notion it was.

Edward laughed, as he imagined the two of them trying to eat the huge stack of pancakes he’d made. “So is that a no on the eggs?” he asked, while expertly cracking the eggs against the edge of the stove.

“No, I’ll definitely be having some. Are you gonna put cheese in them?” Alphonse inquired, hopefully.

Edward gasped, pretending to be offended. “Are you implying that there was ever a time where I didn’t put cheese in the eggs?”

Alphonse laughed, and went over to the fridge. “Well for someone who always puts cheese in the eggs, you seem to have forgotten it in the fridge.”

Edward stopped beating the eggs, and mock scowled at his brother. “You are distracting the cook.” He said waving the egg covered fork at Alphonse. “What a terrible sous chef you make. It’s a good thing that you’re planning on becoming a lawyer, and not a cook.”

Alphonse returned with the cheese, clutching his heart. “Oh how you wound me. It’ll take years of therapy for me to recover from this. Just imagine what it’ll be like having to explain to my therapist that from the young age of fourteen my brother told me that I’d never be a sous chef.”

Edward rolled his eyes. “Well being a sous chef might be out of the question for you, but I’m sure you could easily pursue a job on Broadway.” He told his brother, and then snatched the cheese out of his outstretched hand and resumed beating the eggs.

Alphonse smirked. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s me that has a career on Broadway, and definitely not you, the one who wore leather pants and a bright red coat, until ninth grade.”

Edward scowled. “I looked totally badass. You’re just jealous, and I’m sure that if anything ever happened to me you’d steal my style in a heartbeat.”

Alphonse shook his head. “Only if I’d somehow managed to regress back to the time I was ten.” His brother responded with obvious disdain.

Edward dumped the eggs into the pan, and then stuck his tongue out at his brother. “You’re a little shit. Let’s just see if I give you any pancakes.” He said threatening, even though he wasn’t going to follow through.

Edward carefully moved around the eggs in the pan, so they wouldn’t burn or clump, while Alphonse laughed at him. He should know by now, that arguing with his brother was futile, as Alphonse was the walking embodiment of sass. Not to mention the fact that he was studying to be a lawyer, and had years of practice dealing with Edward’s bullshit. All in all, Alphonse was truly a force to be reckoned with.

Once the eggs were nearly done, Edward threw the cheese in on top, and let it melt on top of the eggs. He pulled the pan off the burner, and was about to dump the eggs onto the plate beside the pancakes, when he saw Alphonse sneaking a pancake off or the stack.

“Oi, breakfast is gonna be ready soon, so stop stealing food.” He scolded his brother. Alphonse gave him a contrite smile. “I’m about to go and wake up Izumi, and trust me, I need the sustenance for this encounter.”

Edward winced, imaging how that situation was going to go down, as Izumi was a force to be reckoned with before coffee. “Remember to duck.” He warned his brother, since Izumi had a tendency to throw her slippers.

You wouldn’t think that fuzzy pink slippers would hurt when thrown, but their adoptive mother had quite the arm, causing the slipper to become a feared implement of destruction.

Alphonse saluted him with solemn look, and then turned and left the kitchen, while marching rigidly.

Edward shook his head amusedly at Alphonse’s dramatics. His brother was such a nerd sometimes.

* * *

 

Edward was just finished setting the table, when he heard the front door slam against the doorstop as it was thrown open.

“Hey! Be careful with our door!” He yelled back at who he assumed to be Winry and Sheska. Honestly, he loved those two to pieces, but they could at least knock before bursting into his house.

“Edward!?” he heard Winry exclaim incredulously, then a thump, and loud cursing.

Edward rolled his eyes at Winry’s tone. Just because he didn’t often wake up this early on the weekends, didn’t mean it was impossible. Especially considering that he woke up before four am on a regular basis.

“Good morning to you too.” He called back sarcastically to Winry

“Morning Ed” Sheska said cheerily as she walked into the dining room with Winry following close behind. “Do I smell pancakes?”

Edward smiled at her. “Yeah, but you might wanna keep it down. Al just went up to wake up Izumi and you know how she gets before coffee.

Both Sheska and Winry winced. “Is Al gonna be okay?” Winry asked worriedly.

A shrill scream from upstairs suddenly pierced the air, and was followed by the sound of quick footsteps on the stairs.

“I think that answers you question.” Edward said wryly, as Alphonse burst into the dining room, a bright red shoe imprint on his face.

“She’s coming, quick get the coffee!” Alphonse exclaimed, breathlessly.

Winry immediately burst into action and was out of the room before Edward could blink.

“If only she moved that fast whenever there’s a book sale.” Sheska said wistfully, and Edward couldn’t resist teasing her.

“Yeah then you could marry her with no objection. “He said slyly.

Alphonse started laughing, and Sheska glared at him. “You’re dead meat Elric, both of you.” She told them ominously, and Alphonse only laughed harder.

Winry chose that moment to come back into the dining room with a fresh cup of coffee and a suspicious look on her face. “Not that I’m complaining, but why exactly are you gonna kill Ed?” she asked Sheska.

Sheska froze, a blush spreading across her face and Edward thought fast. He couldn’t let Sheska fend for herself, as she was an even worse liar than he was.

“I said you were awfully overdressed, for an outing with a jackass and a stalker, and she was defending your non-existent honor.” He lied with a smirk, pointing at the white sundress Winry was wearing.

Winry put her free hand on her hip and glared at him. “I am not over dressed. Just because you constantly dress like a hobo, doesn’t mean we all do.”

Edward clutched his heart and gasped dramatically, copying Alphonse from earlier. “A hobo?! I have never been so offended.” He said with a faux affronted look on his face.

Winry rolled her eyes and then turned to Alphonse. “I thought you said she was coming?” she asked exasperatedly, and Edward sighed in relief, having easily deflected that situation.

“She was!” Alphonse said defensively, running a hand nervously through his disheveled hair, and everyone except for him froze as they saw Izumi enter the doorway. Poor Alphonse had his back to the doorway so he remained oblivious to Izumi looming over him.

Edward smirked as he got a particularly evil idea. “Do you think she got lost?” he asked his brother, just to be a sarcastic little shit.

Izumi raised an eyebrow at him, over Alphonse’s head, but said nothing to indicate that she was present.

Edward was grateful for that, now all he had to do was keep everyone else quiet, so he could draw this out as long as possible. Alphonse meanwhile, looked at him like he’d lost every last bit of his mind.

“I know Izumi can be a bit bullheaded when she’s angry, but it’s highly unlikely she got lost.” He said slowly, speaking to Edward as though he suffered a major head trauma.

“Bullheaded?” Izumi asked curiously, and Alphonse yelped in surprise and darted forward, putting as much distance between him and Izumi as possible.

“Why Alphonse, that’s not very nice. And here I thought that you were the good child.” She continued with a faux hurt expression, and began walking into the dining room menacingly.

Alphonse squeaked in terror and shot Edward a betrayed look, while using Winry as a human shield. Winry however, wasn’t very cooperative and sidestepped out of Izumi’s path, leaving his brother to fend for himself. Edward could only smile in amusement as he watched the scene before him unfold.

“D-did I say bullheaded? Silly me I meant to say levelheaded, which is why it would be extremely hard for you to get lost.” Alphonse stammered out, trying to appease Izumi, before she reached him.

Izumi didn’t pause, or do anything to show she’d heard what Alphonse said, instead continuing to his side. Everyone seemed to draw in a breath simultaneously when Izumi reached Alphonse, and then released it in bursts of laughter when Izumi did nothing more than pat Alphonse on the head.

Edward’s stomach hurt from the amount he was laughing, and even Alphonse, who had glared as venomously at everyone as he could and stated that he hated everyone, began to join in the laughter.

“Here, Izumi.” Winry said through her laughter, and handed her the coffee cup. Izumi accepted it with a gracious smile, and then turned back to face Alphonse with a concerned look on her face. “I’m sorry for hitting you with my shoe, Alphonse. I could’ve sworn I saw you duck.” She apologized.

Alphonse grumbled something that could’ve been an acceptance, but Edward couldn’t quite tell over all the laughter, and then headed into the kitchen.

Edward had finally stopped laughing enough to stand up straight, and Sheska appeared to be in the same condition as him. “That was awesome.” He told Izumi, while wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. He still couldn’t believe Izumi had gone along with that. He knew Alphonse was definitely going to seek revenge, but for now he was proud of himself for being so evil.

“You’re such a terrible brother.” Izumi replied fondly, an amused smile present on her face as she took a sip of her coffee. “So I see you made breakfast.” She continued after she had swallowed the coffee.

“Yeah, a certain jackass thought that a phone call at five in the morning on a Saturday was appropriate.” Edward said with distaste. “Which reminds me, do you guys want Mustang to pick you up in his car? Or would you rather take the bus?” He asked the girls, like he’d promised the bastard he would.

Sheska and Winry looked at each other for a moment, appearing to be silently communicating, before looking back at him. “We’ll ride with Roy.” Sheska replied, and Winry nodded in agreement.

Edward nodded in reply. “Gotcha, I’ll call him after breakfast and let him know. If he’s late in picking you up, feel free to kick his ass.” He said, directing the last part at Winry.

“No, no one is going to be kicking anyone’s ass.” Alphonse said reproachfully from the doorway. Edward turned and stuck his tongue out at his brother. Alphonse must have come back in the middle of their conversation, as he was leaning against the doorway casually, with a bag of frozen peas pressed against his cheek.

“He deserves it.” Edward protested. Honestly, how was it that despite the fact he had told them all many times that Mustang was an asshole, no one believed him?

Winry sighed exasperatedly, and Edward was almost certain it was directed at him, seeing as she only ever sighed at him like that. “Edward, just because someone deserves to have their ass kicked, does not mean that you actually kick their ass. And Alphonse, if I wanna kick someone’s ass then I will.” Winry said reprimanding them the way that she always did.

Alphonse frowned at that, his brow furrowing in obvious confusion. “You just contradicted yourself.” He replied quizzically, and Edward had to choke down a laugh.

“Alright you four, I’d prefer to keep my kitchen in one piece, so how about we all sit down for breakfast.” Sig said, surprising everyone with his sudden appearance.

Edward was completely lost as to how they hadn’t noticed him sooner, as the man was huge and hardly subtle, but he headed to the table anyways.

Everyone sat in silence and began eating, but it wasn’t long before the peace was shattered and an argument broke out between Alphonse and Winry about society’s perception of morals.

Edward watched them in amusement as he ate his admittedly fantastic breakfast. He wasn’t quite as interested in the topic, so much as the way the two of them were arguing. Alphonse was using what Edward liked to refer to as his lawyer voice, and Winry was gesticulating wildly and raising her voice. All in all it was a great source of entertainment.

Sheska was seated beside him, and Edward had a feeling that she was just as glad as he was that Winry and Alphonse were separated by a table, as the argument grew even more heated.

“Five bucks on Al.” Edward whispered slyly to Sheska, deciding to take a leaf out of Havoc’s book.

Sheska looked at him in shock, before an evil grin slid over her face. “You’re on.” She whispered back triumphantly.

* * *

 

After breakfast Sheska slipped Edward a five dollar bill out in the hallway, and he smirked at her obvious reluctance. The argument had ended with Winry attempting to hit his brother, and Alphonse argued that her demonstration of violence over such a trivial argument only served to prove his point that society was better off without any concept of violence. Winry had been unable to come up with a counter argument, making Alphonse the winner.

Sheska made a face at him in return, and then smirked as she seemed to remember something. “Don’t you have to call Roy, and let him know that we’ll be graciously accepting his ride?” She asked saccharinely.

Edward glared at her reminder. “Yes I do, thanks for that by the way.” He replied sarcastically.

“No problem.” Sheska chirped in the same saccharine voice, and then flounced away.

Edward glared at her retreating back, not wanting to go call the bastard in the slightest. Sheska really played dirty when it came to revenge. You’d typically think that Winry would be the evil one, but Sheska was subtle and could therefore get away with a hell of a lot more.

Edward sighed and reluctantly headed upstairs to grab his phone, wondering if he could somehow convince Alphonse to talk to Mustang. It was unlikely, considering what he’d done to his brother earlier, but it was worth a shot.

He walked into his room and was about to grab his phone, when he decided to get dressed before he headed downstairs. Edward smiled as he headed over to his closet to grab some clothes. Who knew that being productive could be a means of procrastination? After rifling through his closet, he settled on a black long sleeved shirt with a short sleeved red button up on top, and a dark pair of jeans.

Judging by Winry’s outfit it was going to be another annoyingly warm day, so the short sleeved button up should make it appear like he’d taken the weather into account before getting dressed.

He threw on his clothes, careful as always to avoid letting them catch on his prosthetics, and then grabbed his phone. He glared at it for a few seconds, before heading back downstairs. Hopefully Alphonse was feeling generous, if not then Edward was gonna have to put up with Mustang’s shit, which was not something he wanted to do at any time of the day.

“Hey Al!” he called out as soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

“What?” Alphonse asked popping out from the living room doorway, right in front of Edward, and scaring the living daylights out of him. Edward was very proud of himself for not screaming at his brother’s sudden appearance, but still gave Alphonse a small scowl as he tried to get his heart rate under control.

“Jeez Al, don’t scare me like that. Do you want me to die of cardiac arrest before I’m thirty?” he exclaimed somewhat breathlessly.

Alphonse just smirked, completely unabashed, “Please if anyone gets cardiac arrest it’ll be me. Honestly, just watching you grab your skates makes me nervous that you’ll do something incredibly reckless.”

Edward glared at his brother’s completely unfounded accusations. “I don’t do reckless things!” he replied indignantly.

“YES YOU DO!” Winry, Sheska, and Izumi all yelled simultaneously, from different parts of the house.

“NO ONE ASKED YOU!” Edward yelled back, feeling his face heating up from embarrassment. People in this house were too damn nosy if you asked him. “Anyway,” Edward said continuing his conversation with Alphonse. “Could you do me a small favor?” he asked pleadingly.

Alphonse narrowed his eyes, and gave Edward a suspicious look. “What favor?” he asked distrustfully.

Edward smiled innocently. “Could you call Mustang for me and tell him that everyone is accepting his offer, and will be riding with him? I’m not in the mood to deal with his bullshit, and I figured since you’ve been dealing with mine for years, that you’d be used to it.” He asked, attempting to butter his brother up in the process.

Alphonse smiled amicably. “Sure, no problem.” He replied easily, and grabbed the phone when Edward held it out.

Edward pumped his fist victoriously. “Have I told you that you’re the best little brother ever?” he asked as Alphonse navigated his crappy phone.

Alphonse looked up, amused. “No, but you’re more than welcome to.” He said looking thoroughly entertained.

Edward smiled, and opened his mouth to praise his brother endlessly, when suddenly Alphonse swept into a headlock and held his phone against his ear. He struggled for a moment, but he knew it was futile, as Alphonse was an expert in restraining him.

“Revenge is sweet, brother.” Alphonse said in a sing song voice, as the phone started ringing.

“I trusted you!” Edward exclaimed in a betrayed tone, leaning away from the phone as far as possible. Well okay that was a lie, he had been totally expecting his brother to take revenge, but he hadn’t assumed it would be this soon.

The phone rang again, and Edward went limp, hoping against all odds that Alphonse would drop him and he could make his escape. Unfortunately all it did was put a huge amount of pressure on his throat and shoulders, and he immediately regretted doing that.

This time when the phone rang it stopped midway and there was a click as the phone was answered.

“To what do I owe this honor, Fullmetal?” Mustang asked, and Edward could practically feel the smug smile that he knew was currently on the bastard’s face.

Edward glared at the amusement that was present in Mustang’s voice, but managed to keep most of the animosity out of his voice as he replied. “Winry, Sheska, and Alphonse, most _graciously_ accept your offer of a ride.”

Mustang chuckled on the other side of the phone. “Why Fullmetal, that was very close to resembling what most people would label pleasant, and I don’t recall hearing a single cussword. Are you finally warming up to me?” he asked pompously.

“Fuck off.” Edward growled spitefully into the phone, wishing he had the heat vision he’d accused Sheska of having earlier in the week, solely to incinerate Mustang.

Alphonse immediately pulled the phone away from Edward’s ear, and he could practically feel his brothers disapproving gaze. “Forgive my brother. He may be a genius when it comes to school, but throw him in a social situation and suddenly he doesn’t know up from down.” Alphonse said apologetically into the phone.

“Hey!” Edward protested angrily, but Alphonse ignored him.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” Edward heard Mustang sarcastically tell his brother. “You must be Alphonse, I’m afraid Fullmetal hasn’t mentioned you much, save that you are in ninth grade and go to our school.”

Alphonse laughed at that, and Edward felt the vibrations through his back. “That’s funny because Ed had told us an awful lot about you. Unfortunately I’ve only heard terrible things, so I don’t think my brother has too high of an opinion of you.”

“Alphonse.” Edward hissed, feeling his face heat up from embarrassment. “You are not allowed to befriend him, he’s a sadistic bastard.” Not to mention he was sure his life would be living hell if there were two Mustangs in the world.

“Fullmetal, has no one ever told you that it’s rude to talk to someone while they’re on the phone?” Mustang asked loudly, apparently having heard his comment.

“Like you would know polite if it bit you on the ass.” Edward replied viciously. Honestly, his manners were perfectly fine. Why everyone felt the need to comment on them was beyond him.

“I’ll have you know that I am a perfect gentleman.” Mustang protested indignantly, and Edward couldn’t stop the laughter that escaped his mouth at the image in his head. If Mustang was a gentleman then Edward was over seven feet tall.

“Please, gentlemen don’t shove trail mix down people’s throat. You’re just a pompous bastard.” Edward shot back.

Alphonse started laughing again, and Edward heard rustling and muted arguing over the phone.

“Heyo, Ed.” Hughes said brightly through the phone, and strangely enough Edward wasn’t all that surprised at his sudden appearance. “As much as I’d love to watch you and Roy go at it all day, I’m afraid we’re on a schedule. So what’s your address?”

“Oh, it’s thirty five east Dublith, two-five-four-one-five.” Edward recited easily, slightly unnerved how at ease he was around Hughes.

“Okay, we’ll be at your house around ten, so be ready by then.” Hughes replied, and then the phone line went dead with a beep.

Alphonse released Edward from the headlock and handed him his phone with an amused smile. “So you may have had a point about dealing with his bullshit.” He said with an apologetic smile, and Edward stuck his tongue out in return.

He was really getting tired of people telling him that Mustang wasn’t that bad, but maybe actually meeting him would change their mind. Either way Edward knew that he was right and it felt good to be vindicated.

“I not only have a point, but a whole graph proving how right I am.” Edward told his brother with a scowl. “Now if you don’t mind I’m going to finish getting ready, and then make sure Winry and Sheska don’t try to move into our house permanently.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this next update is proley gonna be sometime after May 8th since i've got this ridiculous test coming up, but fear not as i will indeed update. i've drawn more fairly crappy art for this story and it's on my tumblr, kris-weilder-of-the-pen.tumblr.com, if anyone is interested.


	6. The Winds Of Change Bring Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there is a character death in here, just putting that out there in case any of you won't be able to handle that. It's a bit more horrifying than sad due to the situation, but it's necessary. I've brought in two characters that I'm almost positive you guys'll recognize, but if not feel free to ask. Sorry for such a late update but I had not one test but three, all of which required immense studying, as well as a paper and a speech due. Enjoy.

It had taken Edward awhile to actually leave the house, despite his best attempts to leave on time. For that, however he blamed Sheska, Winry, and Alphonse. Honestly they had harped on him for the past hour about how he had to be early, but come the last eight minutes before he left, they seemed dead set on making him late.

Amazingly enough however, he had managed to catch his bus, but he was fairly certain he’d knocked down three innocent pedestrians in his mad dash to the bus stop. He had shouted a quick sorry behind him each time it happened, but he had a feeling that a hurried, insincere apology didn’t make up for it.

From his seat near the front, Edward was surprised to note the amount of people on the bus this early on as Saturday morning. Then again he didn’t go out much, so he figured that this amount of people could very well be usual and he wouldn’t have a clue.

He was feeling antsy, sitting next to so many people on the bus, and felt an intense need to stand up. Unfortunately that would appear extremely rude, and there weren’t any more seats open so if he moved it would appear as though he had an issue with the people next to him. It also wouldn’t necessarily be untrue seeing as the guy sitting next to him was making very loud, rude remarks and Edward felt second hand embarrassment for the shameless asshole.

When the bus reached its next stop only one person got on, a girl that looked to be a few years older than him. Her black curly hair was captured in a loose ponytail over her right shoulder, and she wore a purple sari that contrasted nicely with her brown skin.

Edward immediately got up and offered her his seat with a smile. She might not like the company, but he was willing to use her as an excuse to stand up.

“My, aren’t you sweet.” The girl told him in a throaty voice, and gave him a sly smile. She gracefully sat in the seat and then held out her right hand. “I’m Solaris. May I ask the name of my hero?” she asked with a slightly sarcastic smirk.

Edward accepted her hand and gave it a small shake, before letting go and grabbing onto one of the bus poles. “I’m Edward.” He replied, as the bus doors closed and the bus began to move again.

The exchange between Edward and Solaris initially seemed to shut up the rude asshole, but it appeared that he could only keep his mouth shut for so long, as he turned to face Solaris with a disgusted look on his face. “You should be ashamed of yourself, going around and seducing young boys just so you can have a seat.” The asshole said loudly, turning his nose up at the end.

Edward felt his face heat up at the comment, and just barely resisted the urge to hide his face in his hands, as everyone on the bus turned to stare at him. Instead he glared at the unbelievably rude asshole. “First off, there was no seducing involved, I just really didn’t want to sit next to a mouth breathing idiot.” Edward spat angrily. “Second off, how fucking old, do you think I am?” If that asshole even inferred that he was short, then there would be hell to pay.

The aforementioned asshole looked taken aback, as though he’d expected Edward to be grateful for his rude ass comments, but thankfully remained quiet as Solaris started laughing.

“What a shame and here I thought that you offering me a seat was proof that chivalry was still alive.” She said once she’d stopped laughing, adding a pout onto the end.

“Nah, it runs in the family, I just happened to miss out on the gene. But don’t worry; it lives on in my younger brother.” Edward replied, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. It was true after all, if Alphonse heard what Edward had just said, then he would’ve instantly scolded him and demanded that Edward apologize.

“Upcoming stop, East City shopping mall.” The distorted mechanical reminder suddenly announced, as the bus slowed to a halt and people shuffled around, preparing to get off.

“Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m afraid this is my stop.” Edward said to Solaris with a smile. Talking to her had definitely been an improvement to listening to the now silent asshole spout idiotic nonsense.

“It was nice meeting you, Edward Elric.” Solaris said in farewell, and Edward waved in reply as he disembarked.

* * *

 

Edward sighed in frustration. He wasn’t quite sure why he thought that wandering around the mall would help him find everyone he was meeting up with, but he’d been doing so for the last ten minutes. So far, he’d mistaken a stranger for his brother three times, which was embarrassing enough without it being the same person each time. If that wasn’t enough, he kept getting strange looks from everyone and it was really unnerving him.Edward could only assume that it was apparent to everyone how lost he was, causing him to stick out like a sore thumb.

Finally giving up, Edward marched over to an empty bench, while pulling his phone out of his pocket. He flopped on the bench unceremoniously and slumped down, before he began scrolling through his pathetically short list of contacts. He wasn’t sure of who to call, seeing as every single one of his contacts was going to be an insufferable pain in the ass.Alphonse, Winry, and Sheska would all tease him mercilessly for getting lost, and would most likely give him the wrong directions, because they were all evil little shits. Mustang was definitely out of the question, seeing as he would just be a jackass and steer the conversation away from the initial topic, and annoy the hell out of him.

This left Hughes the lesser of the evils. With a feeling that he was going to really regret this, Edward called him. The phone hadn’t even finished its first ring, when Hughes cheerfully answered the phone, and Edward was yet again unnerved at how Hughes never seemed to surprise him.

“Hey, Ed! We’ve been searching for you everywhere. How long were you searching for us before you broke down and gave me a call?” Hughes asked, barely pausing for breath in between sentences.

Edward narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Hughes’ strangely specific question. It sounded an awful lot like someone fishing for information. “Did you really bet on how long it would take for me to call you?” he asked accusingly, and looked up exasperatedly.

“Wow, you know me so well. What a true testament to our friendship!” Hughes exclaimed shamelessly. “Now let’s see if I can return the favor with my vast knowledge of your stubbornness.” He continued, not at all deterred in his attempt to get information.

Edward rolled his eyes at the ceiling over Hughes’ antics, but decided to tell him. It wasn’t likely that Hughes would let it go, anyhow. “Around ten minutes, are you happy now?” Edward asked rhetorically.

There was shuffling over the phone that Edward could only assume was the exchange of money, and it sounded like Hughes wasn’t the only one who had placed a bet. Edward should really be more disappointed in them, but he was just irritated that the bet had been about him. His moral compass was far too gray for his liking.

“Who won, and how many people placed a bet?” Edward asked unable to contain his curiosity despite his irritation.

There was a disappointed sigh on the other end of the line before Hughes answered. “Everyone placed a bet, but it was a tie between Sheska and Alphonse.” Hughes replied sounding slightly mournful.

Edward shook his head, wondering who exactly Hughes considered everyone. It seemed highly unlikely that Hawkeye would ever bet on something so trivial, and from he’d heard about Gracia, she didn’t seem the type to make bets at all.

There was more shuffling over the phone and some cheerful muttering in the background, before Hughes spoke again “Sheska told me to tell you that you have no room to be mad about the bets after this morning.” Hughes continued, sounding highly amused.

Edward made a face despite the fact that neither Hughes nor Sheska could see it. He wasn’t anywhere near as bad as they were seeing as he had been betting on who would win an argument, which if you thought about it was like sports. However, betting on when he would call to ask for directions was going too far.

“I’m committing you all to rehab.” He grumbled crossly, still not nearly as disappointed as he should be.

Hughes let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah yeah, Hawkeye must’ve said that at least a dozen times already. Now where are you?”

“I’m sitting on a bench outside of the huge ass bookshop, that’s by the food court.” Edward replied, sitting up to see if he could catch the name of the book store. Unfortunately the sign was hidden from view, and all he saw was a group of teenagers blatantly staring at him. Edward raised an eyebrow at them, wondering if maybe they knew him from school, and the group instantly scattered.

“Just get here quickly, people won’t stop staring at me and it’s really creeping me out.” He told Hughes, sinking back down into the bench to avoid making eye contact with anyone.

“People are staring at you?” Hughes asked, sounding amused.

Edward rolled his eyes. “Yes people are staring at me. So please get over here before they start taking pictures like I’m an exhibit in a zoo.”

“Calm down, we’re just now passing the food court, and hey if they do start taking pictures just charge them for it.” Hughes said jokingly.

“If that were the case, I’d be making a whole lot of money off of you.” Edward replied dryly. “Just hurry up and get over here before I decide to collect everything you owe me.” He continued sarcastically, before hanging up on Hughes.

He stood up and stuck his phone in his pocket, before meandering over to the entrance of the bookstore so that Hughes and everyone he was with would be able to spot him better. Edward scanned the constantly moving crowds that hovered around the food court trying to catch sight of someone he knew. He didn’t think it would’ve been too hard to spot a huge ass group of extremely loud teenagers, but apparently it was incredibly difficult as he had no luck spotting them.

After a few minutes he was seriously considering giving up the search and just heading into the bookstore, when he was startled by a familiar voice from behind him.

“Who are you looking for Fullmetal?” Mustang asked, sounding thoroughly entertained, and Edward turned around to glare at him.

Mustang was standing with his arms crossed, and a shit-eating grin on his face, as though annoying Edward was the highlight of his day. Edward wasn’t sure how long exactly he’d been standing there, but he did know that he wanted nothing more than to wipe that look off of his face.

“You know who I was looking for, you asshole.” Edward retorted angrily, and looked beyond Mustang to make sure that he wouldn’t have to deal with Mustang’s annoying ass, alone.

To his amusement, he saw that Alphonse and Winry were arguing with each other while Sheska watched, looking slightly exasperated with the two. Hughes was being ridiculously affectionate towards a girl that Edward recognized from all the pictures as Gracia, and Hawkeye appeared to be lecturing Havoc, who looked more amused than contrite. Overall it was quite a scene, and had they not come up behind him, then Edward would’ve been able to spot them a mile off.

“They’ve been like this since we got here.” Mustang told him amusedly, seeming to enjoy the chaos, which didn’t surprise him in the least. “Your brother and Winry didn’t even stop arguing during the bet, which is impressive, considering Alphonse was one of the winners.”

Edward couldn’t stop the fond smile that spread across his face as he imagined his brother placing a bet while arguing heatedly with Winry. “Yeah, they argue a lot, only I guess you could call it more of a debate, since they always argue over philosophical stuff.” He replied pulling his gaze away from the group and turning it on Mustang, who looked completely unsurprised by this information. Then again, Edward supposed that a car ride alone, with Alphonse and Winry was enough to prove his point and more.

“So is Hawkeye lecturing Havoc on the evils of gambling?” Edward asked, unable to contain his curiosity at what had Havoc looking so amused.

Mustang laughed in reply. “No, not quite. Jean unfortunately does not have much luck with the ladies, and Riza is trying to get him to avoid asking anyone out for the duration of our mall trip. The last time he asked a girl out really didn’t go well and ended with Jean being doused in a pitcher of what he claims was not water, so Riza is attempting to do damage control.”

“Does Havoc have a death wish?” Edward asked incredulously as Havoc outright laughed at Hawkeye, while she lectured him. Was he really just going to ignore what Hawkeye was saying and make the list of women pissed at him, longer?

Mustang laughed a second time. “Riza will be pleased to know that she has successfully instilled fear deep into your heart, despite barely speaking to you. However, Jean appears to be her favorite out of all of us, so he’s most likely to get away unscathed.” He reassured him with far more cheer than the situation called for.

“Well would you look at that.” Hughes suddenly said, surprising both Edward and Mustang, with his sudden appearance. “You two can hold a conversation without ripping each other’s throats out. Who would’ve thought? He asked, shooting a strange look at Mustang before smiling brightly at Edward.

Edward glared at Hughes’ tone of surprise. “Contrary to popular belief, I can actually be nice when the situation presents itself.” He said, just a tad defensively. Just because Mustang pissed him off almost constantly, didn’t mean there couldn’t be times when neither of them felt the need to goad each other to the point where they snapped.

Hughes turned around and shot a questioning look at Winry and Alphonse, who had paused in their arguing to witness what they likely considered a miracle, judging by their stunned expressions.

They both shook their heads slowly in reply. “Don’t listen to him, he’s never nice.” Winry declared, and Alphonse nodded in agreement as though she were speaking the will of the ancient gods themselves.

Mustang started chuckling in amusement, but Edward decided not to prove Alphonse and Winry right, and let him live.

“I hate you all.” Edward told them, glaring without any real malice.

“That’s an awful lot of hate for someone so small. Where do you keep it all?” Mustang asked with a smug smirk, once again appearing determined to make him snap.

Winry, Hughes, and Alphonse, all groaned in chorus before Edward could reply, and Sheska marched up to him, looking very irritated.

In one fluid motion she had him in a headlock, with a hand firmly covering his mouth, and Edward could only wonder dumbly how she’d managed to do that, considering she was a total spaz on the best of days. He was also wondering if she knew how completely unfair it was to cover his mouth, when Mustang had been the one to start it.

“He’s closer to hell, so he draws power from there.” Sheska told Mustang, an irritated edge hidden under her cheery tone. Edward shuddered with newfound respect for his friend, as Mustang looked completely caught off guard by her answer. Edward very slowly turned his head towards Winry, hoping she’d have an answer for Sheska transforming from a loveable, clumsy bookworm, into someone scary enough to rival Hawkeye herself.

Edward immediately found the answer, as he stared at the incredibly proud look on Winry’s face. It was obvious that Winry had taught Sheska a few tricks, but what scared him the most about this situation was Sheska's willingness and capability of using said tricks. He was too intimidated to even be mad at her for calling him short.

Mustang didn’t seem to know how to reply to Sheska, so she released Edward, appearing confidant that they wouldn’t start fighting again.

“Geez Sheska, when did you get so badass?” he asked her ruefully, after she’d taken a step back.

Sheska beamed in response, and flexed playfully. “Please, I’ve always been badass.” She replied blithely.

With that, the slight tension that Edward hadn’t even realized had gathered, dissipated and everyone burst into laughter.

* * *

 

Edward was in a pet store, very much against his will. He had told everyone that taking Alphonse into a pet store was the worst idea possible and on the same level as asking Hughes to show them pictures of Gracia, but had they believed him? Definitely not, considering his current location.

Edward watched despairingly, as his brother immediately headed off to look at the kittens, wishing that for once someone had actually listened to him. If Alphonse brought home a kitten, Izumi was going to lose her shit, and considering Alphonse had zero self control around cats, it seemed to be a very likely possibility.

Why they even had a pet store in the mall was beyond him, considering you couldn’t just take the animal around the mall with you as you continued to shop. Then again he supposed you could stop at the pet shop last, but that meant that their stopping at the pet shop first made no sense, and was yet another reason that people really needed to listen to him.

Edward gave a long suffering sigh, and turned to Winry, hoping she would see how stupid of an idea this was, only to discover that she, along with everyone else, was gone. Great, he’d been left alone in a pet store. He would’ve thought that after his inability to find everyone this morning that they would’ve been a tad more reluctant to leave him on his own, but it appeared that everyone had left behind their commonsense once the word pet shop had been mentioned.

Edward wandered through the store with his hands tucked into his pockets, stopping every so often to look at a particularly interesting animal. He headed towards the reptile section with a smile, figuring that he might as well enjoy himself while he was there. Besides reptiles were badass, and basically miniature dragons, so what wasn’t to like?

He stopped in front of a huge glass terrarium that contained a boa constrictor, and stared in awe as the huge yellow reptile wrapped itself along a fake tree limb.

“Awesome.” He breathed, as the snake’s triangular head bumped against the glass, just a few feet above his face.

“Are you interested in buying her, sir?” An unfamiliar voice suddenly asked, startling Edward. Edward looked away from the snake and to his right, seeing an employee who looked neither like a guy or a girl, dressed in a green polo so blinding that it could only be part of the uniform. They had long black dreadlocks tied back behind a headband, and violet eyes, which were filled with mirth.

“Oh no, I was just looking.” Edward replied, remembering to smile so he didn’t come off as rude.

The employee returned his smile, and walked closer, stopping a few feet away from Edward, and he was able to read ‘Envi’ scrawled across their nametag.

“Well as an employee, I’m afraid that I can’t really advise ‘just looking’, however as a lover of snakes I must admit that you have good taste.” Envi said with a coy grin. “Did you know that in Hinduism, the snake represents eternity, life, death, time, timelessness, as well as the three processes of creation; conception, preservation, and destruction.” They asked, the coy smile fading into one of genuine interest.

Edward blinked, surprised at the sudden influx of information. “Err, no I didn’t. I’m afraid that I only know about western mythology.” He answered apologetically.

Envi clucked their tongue in disproval. “Hinduism is a religion, not mythology. Do you go around calling Christianity mythology?”

Edward’s eyes widened as he realized what a big mistake he’d made. “Shit, I’m so sorry, you’re right, that was thoughtless of me.”

Envi looked startled at Edward’s apology, and then smiled so wide that their eyes closed briefly. “You’re a lot more open minded about this than most people I’ve met.” Envi said sounding amused. “Now while it was lovely talking to you, I’m afraid if you’re not buying anything you’ll have to move along, pipsqueak.” They continued, and pushed him towards the bird area, sending him off with a wink.

Edward turned and glared back behind him where Envi had been, irritated by the pipsqueak comment. However, Envi had already disappeared, so he continued forward, going farther into the bird section.

Edward headed towards where he saw the colorful parrots, intending on teaching them equally colorful swear words, and seeing how long it took him to get kicked out. He was just passing the parakeets, when he heard a bunch of giggling and several clicks from a camera shutter.

He stopped walking and turned his head, curious as to what was going on, and he was met with the sight of a group of girls snapping photos of something in his direction with their smart phones. He turned and looked at what was in their line of sight, confused as to what they were snapping pictures of, but only saw a wall of empty bird cages, with birds perched on top of them.

He shook his head figuring it was none of his business, and continued walking, only for the giggling to increase in pitch and volume. Edward turned around, to see if it was something behind him that was causing them to giggle and take pictures, and met the gazes of about a dozen baby ducks lined up behind him.

“What the hell?” He exclaimed, taking a step back only to have the ducks all waddle forward, following him.

Edward sighed, figuring that running through the store, in hopes that the ducks would get lost and quit following him, would only result in both animals and people getting hurt in some way. The best course of action would be to find an employee and explain the situation. Unfortunately he only knew where Envi would be, and he was pretty sure that taking baby ducks into a reptile exhibit would be considered duckling endangerment.

Stifling a groan, Edward changed directions, and instead of heading over to the parrots, he set off in search of an employee, hoping no one stepped on any ducklings in the process.

Fortunately for the ducks, they made quite a spectacle, and people immediately stepped out of their way showing various degrees of amusement at his situation. He felt his face heat up in embarrassment, but continued walking forward as though being followed by ducks were an everyday occurrence.

He hadn’t been walking for more than thirty seconds, when a red headed employee, who looked a cross between anxious and amused, came running up to him.

“Sir!” The employee called out, dressed in the same green shirt as Envi had been wearing, confirming his assumption that it was a uniform. Edward immediately stopped walking, and watched as the employee came to a halt in front of him, looking winded. He must have run across the store as fast as he could.

“Err, hi.” Edward said awkwardly as the employee caught his breath. “The ducks kinda won’t stop following me, so I was hoping I could find someone who could help me.” Edward continued, once the employee had straightened up and looked as though he could string together a sentence.

The employee, Kyle according to his name tag, looked him over suspiciously. “Did you feed them anything?” He asked accusingly.

Edward held up his hands in an ‘I’m innocent’ gesture while shaking his head. “No, I hadn’t even realized they were there, until a group of girls started snapping pictures.” He replied honestly, watching as Kyle’s suspicious expression relaxed into one of pure amusement.

“Well sir, they seem quite attached to you. How would you like to buy one?” He asked with a beguiling smile, not yet moving to do anything about his feathery problem.

Edward laughed at his blatant attempt to get him to make a purchase. “Izumi would have a litter of kittens if I brought home a duck, and I’m pretty sure my little brother would never forgive me. He’s been trying to get a pet for years and I’m pretty sure this would throw a wrench in his plan.”

Kyle looked slightly disheartened for a second, causing Edward to suspect that employees got a bonus for getting people to buy stuff, before smiling again. “Well, if you’ll help me carry them, we can get the ducklings back to the bird section and into their pen.” He replied cheerfully.

Edward shrugged and returned his smile. “I’m pretty sure that picking them up is unnecessary, seeing as they won’t stop following me.” He told him ruefully.

Kyle suddenly looked flustered, and a blush spread across his face. “Oh yeah, they would wouldn’t they.” He muttered, sounding embarrassed. “Well then, right this way.” He continued in a much louder tone, appearing to quickly regain his composure. He began walking back towards the bird section at a fairly fast pace, and Edward wondered if he was always like this.

Edward shook his head slightly in amusement, before turning around and following Kyle, the ducks close behind him.

* * *

 

After the ducks had been safely locked away, and Kyle had apologized profusely for the inconvenience, Edward headed off towards where the cats were held, in hopes of convincing Alphonse that it was time to go.He knew that he was most likely hoping in vain, but it was worth a shot if it meant he could leave.

When he walked into the cat area, Edward immediately spotted Alphonse, as he had around half a dozen kittens in his lap, looking as though Christmas had come early. Winry and Sheska were with him, cooing over the older cats who had wandered up to them. It was adorable and Edward couldn’t help smiling.

Letting out a sigh, Edward went over to them, knowing that his efforts to get them to leave were already doomed.

“Hey Edward.” Sheska greeted him warmly, having spotted him first.

“Hey Sheska.” Edward replied, and both Winry and Alphonse looked up, appearing surprised to see him.

Edward rolled his eyes as Alphonse immediately turned his attention back to the kittens without even saying hi. Some brother he was. He was almost one hundred percent sure that Alphonse would sell him out in a heartbeat if he were offered cats as a means of payment.

“Please tell me that Alphonse hasn’t purchased any of the cats.” Edward begged Winry and Sheska, fearing that the answer would be yes.

Winry rolled her eyes so hard that Edward swore he could hear them. “Please as if we’d be stupid enough to let Alphonse buy a cat.” She said scornfully.

“Alphonse is right here, and can still hear you guys.” Alphonse protested, testily, scowling as he turned his attention back to them.

Edward smiled, recognizing that familiar tone, as he’d had to deal with it every time they left the pet store empty handed. “How many times did Sheska and Winry tell you that you couldn’t get a cat?” he asked, highly amused by the situation, now that he knew there would be no furry additions to their family.

Alphonse glared at him, and then turned his attention back to the cats, apparently deciding that silence was the best way to maintain his dignity.

“Come sit down with us.” Sheska suddenly spoke up, patting the ground on the side opposite of where Winry was seated next to her.

Edward considered his options. He could either waste his breath in a futile attempt to convince them to leave with him, or he could sit down and wait for everyone to eventually get bored and come and find them. Edward decided to sit down with them, figuring that at least this way he was safe from baby ducks.

* * *

 

They had finally left the pet store, though it had taken Mustang being banned permanently from the store for his behavior towards the puppies, for anyone to even consider leaving. Even then, Alphonse still had to be physically removed from the store, further proof that Edward had been right.

He’d been dragged to several other stores since then, although everyone had adamantly refused to allow either him or Sheska into a bookstore, which in Edward’s opinion was highly unfair. They had allowed Alphonse to go into a pet store, and even Hughes had been able to go into a photography store, but he couldn’t look at a few books.

He refused to admit that he was sulking because of it. After all, silently railing against the injustice of the world was in no way sulking.

“Where do you guys wanna go next?” Hughes asked, while shifting his stance to accommodate for the bags he was carrying with his good arm. Everyone was in a similar state as Hughes, all laden with bags from many different stores. Well everyone except for Alphonse, Sheska, and himself, considering none of them had been allowed to purchase anything from the stores they were interested in.

“How about the food court?” Edward suggested, speaking for the first time since he’d been barred from the bookstore. He was hungry and food trumped silently protesting how unfair the world was. Besides, he figured it would be a welcome relief to everyone carrying fifteen million bags.

“You just ate!” Winry exclaimed, looking at him like he was insane.

Edward scowled. “That was almost three hours ago!” he protested, and his stomach growled loudly at that moment, as though to illustrate his point.

“I’m hungry too.” Sheska said, coming to his defense, and everyone else started voicing that they too were hungry.

Winry sighed and shook her head. “I hope you guys realize that it’s still early enough that places are still serving breakfast.” She said defeatedly, seeming to realize that there was no arguing with them.

“To the food court!” Edward said loudly, as though he was commanding an army, and Sheska and Alphonse cheered.

Line break

* * *

The walk back to the food court was very anticlimactic after his outburst, but he was pretty sure that running through the mall would get them kicked out, so he let the lack of enthusiasm slide. 

Edward’s mouth watered as he entered the food court, due to the smell of everything that was being cooked. It was incredible, and he immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He suddenly appreciated that he hadn’t been able to buy anything from the bookstore, as it meant he had a whole lot more money for food. 

He turned and started heading over to where he smelled the Vietnamese food cooking, when someone grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back. 

“Oi!” he protested angrily and turned to look at who had grabbed him, coming face to face with Hughes. “What was that for?” he demanded, desperately wanting to get his food. 

Hughes laughed. “The food isn’t going to disappear, calm down.” He assured him. “We’re just all going to grab a seat together and set our stuff down and I figured you’d like to know where to sit down after you grabbed your food.” 

“Oh.” Edward replied so very eloquently. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. 

“Come on.” Hughes said amusedly, and dragged him towards the retreating backs of his traitorous friends, who had already started heading off without him. 

* * *

 

The seating arrangement was very similar to how they sat when they ate lunch at school, with exceptions made for the people who didn’t normally eat lunch with them. 

Winry and Sheska were seated next to each other looking adorable with their whispered conversation going on, while Havoc sat next to them, with Hawkeye on his other side. Gracia sat next to Hawkeye and was talking to her about recipes, while she had a hand pushing Hughes back, as he tried to be included in the conversation. He most likely just wanted to brag about her cooking skills, and it amused Edward that not even Gracia could put up with Hughes’ constant worship of her. Mustang was seated next to Hughes, and once again Sheska had assured that Edward was seated next to him, most likely due to his teasing this morning. Alphonse was on his other side, because after a group vote, everyone decided that letting him sit next to Winry would just result in arguing. 

This left Edward wondering why the hell everyone had been fine with him sitting next to Mustang. 

Deciding to ignore Mustang and eat the delicious meal he’d purchased while it was still hot, Edward opened the container that it had come in. He grabbed the fork and knife that he had stolen from the salad bar, seeing as he had no patience for the chopsticks that were at the Vietnamese place, and began eating. It tasted just as incredible as it smelled, and Edward ate faster in response, not wanting to leave his mouth empty for a second. 

“Your manners are still completely atrocious.” Mustang said condescendingly from beside him. 

“Fuck off.” Edward replied from around a mouthful of noodles. Seeing as he hadn’t bothered to wait until he was done chewing however, it came out sounding more like ‘fuzzy moth’. 

Mustang laughed sounding amused, and Edward saw the bastard’s plastic fork head towards his noodles. Edward scowled and stabbed Mustang’s hand with his fork, which did nothing save for break the plastic tongs. Mustang still managed to steal some of his food, and Edward was left holding a useless utensil. 

Edward groaned in frustration and regretfully swallowed his mouthful of pork. “Dammit Mustang.” He growled irritably. Now he’d have to go steal another fork, leaving his food at the mercy of Mustang and Alphonse, who he’d seen eyeing his food enviously. Standing up, Edward was about to grab another fork from the salad bar as quickly as possible, when he saw someone in a floor length parka. 

Edward immediately focused his attention on the figure, and a bad feeling lodged itself in his gut. He’d seen the news and he knew that no good ever came from people dressed like that, especially considering that everyone around him was clad in shorts. Three security guys started heading towards the parka clad figure, confirming his suspicions that nothing good would come from this. 

The figure started backing away from the security guards, setting off every one of Edward’s alarm bells. If he acted now, he could possibly save lives and the worst that could happen would be the loss of his dignity. 

“EVERYONE GET DOWN!” he yelled as loudly as he could, and kicked over the table, creating a buffer between them and the person in the parka, as the food court burst into movement. 

His friends seemed stunned, as they remained motionless, and Edward forced them into action by yanking those closest to him down behind the table. Everyone else luckily followed suit, taking cover behind the table. 

Edward was just about to do the same, when the loud bang of an explosion resounded through the food court, and Edward was thrown backwards from the force of it, the heat hitting his body. 

Pain consumed his body, as Edward hit something soft and warm, and heard the loud, sickening, unmistakable snap of a bone breaking. Expecting to have broken something on his body, he waited for the expected agony of a broken bone, but nothing happened, save for the rise in temperature. 

Groaning in pain, Edward pulled himself off of whatever he had landed on, ignoring the fierce pain where his right arm and left leg met his prosthetics. The heat had likely fried the wiring, causing his nerves to go haywire. 

Edward turned to see what he had landed on and was met with the horrifying sight of a human, a human who he instantly recognized as Kyle from the bright green polo and red hair. His neck was bent at an unnatural angle, and eyes were glassy and unseeing. Edward knew that if he checked for a pulse that there’d be none. Kyle had broken Edward’s fall and the snap that he’d heard had been Kyle's neck. 

Edward turned and threw up, feeling the burn of bile as his lunch came up, and the pain of trying to breathe after he had finished. The charred floor was now covered in vomit, and Edward was panting from pain and exhaustion, but it changed absolutely nothing. 

Kyle was dead, and it was all because of Edward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And on that terrible note, I'd like to apologize again for such a late update. I'll be posting more artwork as well as some terrible rough drafts that will be sure to make you laugh on my tumblr, which for those of you who have yet to visit it, is kris-weilder-of-the-pen.tumblr.com


	7. Flames Leave Soot Marks On their Souls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update is so late, my hand is stuck in a brace, so my already poor typing speed has been cut in half. So next chapter there's going to be a POV switch and if you can guess who it is, the next time I have to name a character, I shall use the name you suggest. Also next week if finals week, so there shall be yet another delay on the next update.

Edward stood frozen, staring at Kyle and his world crashed down around him. For the second time in his life, Edward had cheated death at the expense of someone else’s life, for he knew that had Kyle not broken his fall, there was very little chance he would’ve survived the impact.

The pain in his limbs, and the horror from Kyle’s death combined, dragged Edward back into an all too vivid flashback, and suddenly the smoke was from the car crash and his mother was in front of him, blocking his small body from the wreckage.

“Mom?” he asked, once more a scared ten year old, too in pain to realize what had happened and desperate to make sure she was okay.

His mother didn’t answer leaving a morbid silence, and when Edward tried to reach out and shake her shoulder, his arm refused to cooperate instead erupting into excruciating pain. With a cry of pain he instinctively flinched away from the pain, and instead met searing pain in his left hip that stopped his panicked movement and caused his mother to finally move. Edward stared at her with hope in his eyes and tried moving closer to her, when the pain in his left hip grew even more intense.

It was that pain that dragged him out of the flashback, and he found himself on the floor, a few feet away from Kyle, where he must’ve collapsed when the flashback hit.

The pain that had dragged him out of his flashback didn’t fade away as it normally did; only increasing in intensity and Edward looked down for the source. He was met with the sight of yellow flames dancing along the bottom of his shirt, and with a cry he frantically patted it out, continuing to beat his shirt even after the fire had disappeared.

Edward finally stopped beating at his shirt, once the panic had retreated enough for him to regain his sense, and realize that he was no longer on fire. He wanted to scream in frustration, in panic, in pain, but he kept silent, and pulled himself to his feet. Now was not the time or place to break down, he shoved all his panic and grief to the back of his mind. He would deal with it later, but for now he needed to focus. Alphonse, Winry, Sheska, and everyone else were still in the building, and getting them out was his number one priority. Edward began limping forward and ignored the pain, as he tried to locate where their table had been in the wreckage that was the food court.

The whole place was on fire, smoke filled the air, and fallen beams littered the floor. Tables were strewn throughout the room, along with the occasional body, which Edward hoped desperately, were alive.

He continued scanning the food court, until he saw a table flipped on its side, with silhouettes of people standing around it. Edward pushed himself to move faster, and headed towards the table, hoping against all odds that it was them. He could barely make out anything through the smoke, but he wouldn’t stop looking until he found everyone.

The smoke grew thicker as he headed towards the group of people he’d seen, causing his eyes to water and his throat to burn. He swung his working arm up to cover his nose and mouth, hoping that he didn’t wind up passing out from smoke inhalation. Alphonse would kill him if he died before he was at least eighty.

Edward almost wept for joy once he was close enough to see more than silhouettes, and he was able to recognize everyone.

“Alphonse!” he cried in relief, unable to stop himself.

“Edward!?” Alphonse said in disbelief, turning to face him fully, before charging at him and sweeping him into a bone crushing hug. “You’re alive!” he exclaimed elatedly, hugging him even harder.

Edward could only let out a groan of pain in response, as his back and ribs suddenly felt as though they were on fire. He must’ve hurt them in the fall and not realized it in the horror that followed.

Alphonse immediately released him, and looked him over worriedly. “You’re hurt.” He said in a concerned tone, sounding as though he wanted to conduct a full medical exam right there and then, despite having a large, painful looking cut on his cheek.

“Not too badly, and we have to get out of here before we either burn to death, or the building comes down.” Edward replied in an urgent tone, attempting to convey that they didn’t have time to make sure he was okay. After they got out of there, there’d be no stopping Alphonse from going full mother hen, but now was definitely not the time or place for that.

“Fullmetal is right, we have to move now.” Mustang spoke up, clutching his chest, with a look that made it obvious he was in pain. Edward wondered how he’d gotten hurt, since Mustang had been one of the first people he’d shoved behind the table.

“The exit is this way.” Hawkeye said, pulling Edward out of his thoughts and pointing left with a grim look on her face. She, like everyone else, was covered in soot and brick dust, but otherwise looked completely unhurt. It appeared that her survival instincts were much finer tuned than his, so there was no way in hell he was going to argue with her.

Everyone immediately followed her when she started walking in the direction she’d pointed in.

* * *

 

Edward was worried about Winry. Her parents had died in a hospital fire that had been started by one of the patients they’d treated; meaning that this definitely wasn’t the best environment for her. Alphonse and Sheska were walking with her as they made their way out of the mall, a little ways ahead from where he was currently limping, and Edward was positive they were consoling her. She appeared to be shaking slightly, but she was walking at a steady pace, leaning slightly against Sheska, who had her arm wrapped around Winry’s shoulders.

Edward would be right up there with them if he could, but as he was unable to keep pace with them, he didn’t try making them slow down. They needed to get out of the building as soon as possible and Edward would only hold them back his current state.

Once all of this was over, he knew that Winry was going to a pain in the ass about the state of his prosthetics. He remembered how over the summer, when he’d taken a nasty fall on the ice after doing a particularly risky move, Winry had exclaimed in a fit of rage that he couldn’t even wipe his ass without breaking his arm. It had been a great source of amusement for everyone who’d heard about it and for a while had been a running joke.

Of course Edward knew that this time Winry would be a lot more sympathetic because of the circumstances, but she’d probably turn all her worry for him into complaints over his broken limbs. He used to buy her jewelry (with help from Alphonse, because apparently his badass style was “too tacky”) to appease her whenever he broke his limbs, but he’d stopped after she started piercing every part of her ears so she could wear all of the earrings at once. He figured this time, he’d let her redesign his limbs like she wanted to, in order to keep her from glaring at him every five seconds.

Edward was just weighing the pros and cons of letting Winry include a secret weapon in the design, when for the second time that day, a figure caught his eye. Edward ignored the pain in his arm and leg and whirled around, expecting to find more trouble, only to see a kid his age carrying an extremely injured girl over his shoulder.

He was carrying her away from an area where a large amount of rubble had collapsed, which was most likely the cause of the girl’s injury, and he was faring rather badly. Edward could see that the kid was injured himself, but he had the look of someone who was prepared to face hell for someone they loved.

Before he knew it, Edward was moving forward to help him. The kid wouldn’t make it on his own, that much was obvious, and Edward couldn’t just leave him there to die.

When Edward was a few feet away from the kid, a large crack from above suddenly resounded throughout the building, causing him to pause and look up. Edward saw a beam along with more rubble falling from the ceiling, heading straight towards the kid and reacted immediately, sprinting towards him.

With as much strength as he could muster, Edward shoved them out of the immediate path of the falling beam. He then turned and threw his metal arm up above his head to block the beam from hitting either him, or the kid and the girl who were only a few feet behind him. Luckily for him, the bottom half of the beam hit the ground before the rest hit Edward, saving him from having to block the full force of it. Unfortunately, it still hurt like hell when it hit his arm, causing the connection between the nerves and his arm to go even more haywire. He was fairly sure that he couldn’t be in any more pain, until he felt pain explode across his forehead, as a piece of the falling rubble struck his head, and blood started dripping down his face in a warm stream.

Edward growled in frustration as it dripped into his eye, and the universe proved to him once again, that it could always get hurt. He groaned as the beam started getting too heavy to hold, and used his flesh arm to brace his prosthetic, before pushing the beam to the right, away from him. It hit the floor with a muted thud, unable to cause him further pain now that gravity had it tight in its grasp.

Dropping his good arm to his side, Edward made to wipe the blood off of his face with the sleeve of his prosthetic, but a metallic clank sounded, causing him to freeze. The sound his arm had made wasn’t good in any sense of the word and that, and the fact that he could barely feel it there anymore, was a good indicator that something was very wrong.

Edward tried moving his prosthetic down to his side as gently as possible, but with another clank his arm took matters into its own hands, swinging down to his side and hanging there, completely useless, no longer anything more than dead weight. The only reason Edward knew that his arm was still there, was because he could see it hanging off of his shoulder.

Winry was going to kill him for this, and then revive him just so she could kill him again. Saying that today was not his day would be the understatement of the year.

A groan from behind him pulled Edward’s attention away from his arm and he turned around, turning his attention back towards the kid. Pushing him as hard as he had probably hadn’t been the best idea Edward had had, as the kid looked a lot worse for wear, sprawled across the ground in a painful looking position. The girl lay right beside him, and the kid was clutching her as though his life depended on it.

“Hey, are you okay?” Edward asked, while walking closer to the kid. It was a stupid question, as he most certainly wasn’t okay, but what else could he say in a situation like this?

“I’m fine.” The kid forced out, his almond shaped eyes looking him over suspiciously. “Who’re you?” he continued, moving up into a seated position.

“Edward Elric, but now’s really not the best time for introductions. Can you stand?” Edward asked, holding out his functioning hand for the kid to take. He could tell already that it didn’t matter whether or not the kid could stand, as he was going to try anyways.

The kid took Edward’s hand and pulled himself up not letting go of the girl. “I’m Ling Yao, and I’m afraid it’s always the time for introductions, as I’ve got people who would love to get their hands on me.”

Edward stared at Ling, in surprise, wondering how someone his age could have enemies that could only be identified by name. Whoever he was exactly, Ling lived a dangerous life. Suddenly Ling collapsed, hitting the floor before Edward could even think of slowing his fall.

“Oi, Ling!” Edward exclaimed, immediately crouching down to shake his shoulder. Ling didn’t respond and Edward groaned in frustration, shaking him even harder. The dude had been too stubborn to admit he was too weak to stand up and now Edward was left with two unconscious people, and only one working arm, in a building that was coming down around them.

“Dammit Ling!” he cursed, in a panicked tone. It would only be possible for him to carry one person, and with the smoke filling the building at the rate it was, there was no way he could make two trips. He was going to have to choose who to save, and leave the other to die. “Dammit!” he cursed again, punching the ground beside him. He couldn’t make this choice; he couldn’t play God and decide who lived and who died. How could he make this choice? Logically the choice would be to save the least injured person, who in this case was Ling, but with the way Ling seemed to care for the girl, he couldn’t just leave her behind. Not to mention that if he left her behind she would definitely die.

Edward scowled and dropped down to his knees to brace himself. If shaking Ling wouldn’t wake him up then he’d have to take more drastic measures. Edward lifted his good hand and then slapped Ling as hard as he could. “You can’t die here, you asshole, so wake up and walk your ass out of this building!”Edward shouted angrily at Ling.

Ling’s eyes fluttered open and Edward sighed in relief. Even if Ling needed to use him as a crutch the entire time, Edward would still be able to carry the girl and they could all get out of the mall alive, if he stayed conscious.

“Save Lan Fan.” Ling choked out, and before Edward could formulate a response, his eyes closed again Edward stared at him in shock. No, it wasn’t possible that Ling had fallen unconscious again and had told him to leave him there to die. Edward couldn’t let anyone else die today; he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he added another name to the list of people whose death he was responsible for.

Edward looked over at the girl that Ling was still clutching even while he was unconscious, the girl that he had called Lan Fan and had told him to save over himself, the girl that he had carried despite the danger to himself. Edward extracted her from Ling’s tight grip using his good arm, and shook her, hard, hoping against all hope that she would wake up. If she didn’t he knew he had a choice to make, a choice which if he was honest with himself, had already been made.

Lan Fan’s eyes shot open, and before he could even blink she was sitting up and clutching her left arm, while glaring at him. Edward stared in shock, unable to comprehend what had happened for a moment, but once the realization that Lan Fan was fully conscious hit him, he couldn’t stop the relieved laugh that bubbled out of his mouth. He was really tempted to hug her, but he got the feeling that Lan Fan wouldn’t appreciate it very much. Besides, anyone who could wake up that fast after being unconscious was not someone whose personal space you wanted to invade, especially when they glared at you the way Lan Fan was glaring at him.

“Can you walk?” he asked her, hoping that if she couldn’t, she would admit it, instead of being a stubborn idiot, like Ling. He would much prefer getting out of the building with everyone alive, over repeating the episode he’d had to experience with Ling.

Lan Fan nodded, eyeing him just as suspiciously as Ling had, and Edward felt relief sweep through his body, chasing away a good portion of the panic he’d felt. Sure the situation could be a lot better, but right now there was a chance that they would all get out alive.

Edward wanted to ask if she was absolutely sure, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He opened his mouth to explain the situation to her, but she spoke up before he could get anything out.

“Where’s Mr. Yao?” Lan Fan asked with an accusatory edge present in her tone, and the promise of violence clear in her dark eyes if his answer was not to her liking.

Edward could only assume that she meant Ling, though the formal way she referred to him didn’t quite match up with Ling’s behavior towards her.

“Ling is right there. He’s passed out, but other than that he’s relatively fine.” Edward replied, being careful of how he phrased his answer, and pointed to where Ling was sprawled across the ground.

Lan Fan immediately started moving towards Ling, but Edward grabbed her uninjured shoulder. “I know you want to make sure he’s okay, but we have to get out of this building now, before it comes down around us. I can carry him, but if you wanna make sure he survives this, then we need to start moving now.” Edward told her; desperate to get her to understand why they didn’t have time to keep sitting there.

Lan Fan looked like she wanted to object, but after a moment she nodded, and pulled herself to her feet. She swayed on her feet for a few seconds after standing up, and Edward could see that a steady stream of blood was running down her injured arm, but thankfully she didn’t pass out again.

Edward pushed himself up off of his knees and very awkwardly managed to sling Ling over his shoulder, through balancing and the skillful use of his chin. Once Edward was sure he had a good grip on Ling, he slowly stood up, ignoring the throbbing in his left leg.

“That way’s the exit.” Edward told Lan Fan, jerking his chin in the direction he’d been going in before the shit had hit the fan.

Lan fan nodded, looking too pained to speak and then they both began staggering forward in various degrees of pain.

* * *

 

Ling was way too fucking tall. Carrying him was a hell of a lot more difficult than Edward had anticipated, and it was extraordinarily awkward to carry someone who had at the very least, half a foot on him. It also probably didn’t help that Edward had only one arm to work with, and his leg was getting steadily worse as the heat increased. Due to all of this, even with Edward moving as fast as he could, he was making very little progress and Lan Fan appeared to be in a similar state. At this rate, there was very little chance of them making it out.

“Tell Ling….that if he expects me….to carry him out of a building ever again….he needs to eat less.” Edward panted out, trying to keep Lan Fan focused on something other than the pain. She was getting paler and paler from what little of her he could see through the smoke, and while it was extraordinary that she had made it this far with her injury, she couldn’t pass out now.

Lan Fan made an angry sound of protest, and threw him a venomous glare, most likely to convey how unnecessary his commentary was, but appeared unable to respond past that.

Well, that hadn’t lightened the mood like he’d hoped, but he honestly wasn’t sure what he’d expected. Considering they were in such a morbid situation, lightening the mood was probably next to impossible, and talking was a waste of energy.

Edward felt sweat dripping down his face and winced as it caused his head wound to sting. Great that was just what he needed right now, more pain. He would’ve attempted to look on the bright side of things, but seeing as the brightest thing about his situation were the flames that were quickly consuming the mall, it wouldn’t have been all that effective.

If Edward were any less stubborn of a person, he would’ve collapsed a while ago. However, even with his stubborn personality and high tolerance to pain, he was fast running out of reserve and could see black spots dance across his line of sight. He pushed himself harder, knowing that if he passed out there would be no one to save Ling, but he knew he could only last so long.

He was focusing on breathing in and out, as well as putting one foot in front of the other, when Lan Fan suddenly let out a cry of alarm. Edward immediately looked up, fearing the worst had happened and she was unable to continue, when he saw Mustang of all people, carrying Lan Fan over his shoulder. He must’ve picked her up without warning, causing her to cry out.

Edward was immediately torn between anger and relief, as he watched Mustang effortlessly carry her. Relief that Lan Fan was definitely going to make it out, and anger that Mustang had come back for him, when he could’ve been safe outside of the building by now.

“What….are you….doing….here?” Edward asked, grimacing at the effort it took to form the question. The combination of smoke inhalation, exhaustion, and fairly extensive injuries, was taking a sever toll on him.

“Making sure you don’t kill yourself with your ridiculous sense of altruism.” Mustang replied in an extremely aggravated tone, looking at him in what appeared to be a mix of anger, exasperation, and worry.

“S’not….ridiculous.” Edward argued, shooting him a glare in return. It wasn’t like he could just leave people behind to die; besides Mustang had come back for him, and wasn’t that being altruistic?

Mustang groaned in exasperation. “Of course you’re still able to argue. Instead of your sense of hearing, your ability to argue will probably be the last thing to go when you die.”

Edward shot him another glare. “You’re the….worst….rescuer….ever.” he told Mustang bitterly. Even Edward knew that joking about death in a near death situation was tactless.

Mustang said nothing in reply, instead continuing to walk forward as though Edward hadn’t said anything. Of course, it could’ve just been because Edward was almost incomprehensible at this point, but he had a feeling that Mustang had heard him, but was choosing not to reply. Somehow this made Edward feel like a shitty person. After all Mustang, for whatever reason, had come back for him.

“Sorry.” Edward said quickly, hoping it didn’t sound as insincere as he imagined it did.

Mustang looked over at him with a shocked expression, before it faded to amusement. “Only you, Fullmetal.” He said, sounding almost…fond? No, that couldn’t be right. Mustang barely tolerated him, and that was on a good day.

Edward scowled, unsure of how else to react. He had no idea what Mustang had meant by that, and would’ve asked what about him, but he was fairly sure that he didn’t have enough control over his breathing to form the question.

* * *

 

After several more torturous minutes of walking, which felt like several eternities to Edward’s worn out muscles, they finally reached the exit. Edward blinked at the bright light that filtered in through the smoke and felt relief flood his body as he safely made it out of the building.

He was highly tempted to drop Ling on the asphalt of the parking lot, and then collapse right beside him, but his plans were rudely interrupted by someone shouting “There he is!”

Edward glanced up, confused as to why someone was shouting, when he was suddenly met with the sight of several reporters and paramedics immediately headed towards both him and Mustang. It looked as though it was a race between the two groups, but the paramedics were the first to reach them, looking incredibly worried as they took in the state they were in.

“Are you okay son?” a kind looking brunette paramedic asked him, waiting for an answer before coming any closer. Edward opened his mouth to reply that he was fine, and it was Ling that needed help, but Mustang spoke up before he could.

“He likely has a concussion, judging from his head wound, I’m almost positive that he can’t use his right arm, he’s definitely inhaled more smoke than is healthy, and he was limping the entire time we left the building.” Mustang listed off while handing Lan Fan over to the paramedic with a gurney.

Edward snapped his mouth shut and glared venomously at Mustang. He was fine and Mustang had no business telling the paramedic all of that. Edward still had to find Alphonse, Winry, and Sheska, to make sure they were okay. Besides, the majority of what was wrong with him, was the fact that his prosthetic’s were fried, and only Winry could fix that.

Edward glared even harder when he saw that the reporters had caught up to them, just in time to hear everything Mustang had said.

“I’m fine!” he growled at Mustang, before turning to face the paramedic. “Ling is the one who needs help; I just need to find my friends.” He told her, and she immediately moved forward to relieve Edward of his burden.

“Did you say Ling? As in Ling Yao?” One of the reporters asked, suddenly surging forward and rudely thrusting a microphone in his face.

Edward blinked, surprised at the question, before glaring at the reporters. He had just been through what definitely made his top ten list of worst days ever, and yet the reporters were already hounding him for questions. Forget lawyers being snakes, reporters had that position locked down.

“I didn’t get his last name.” Edward lied coldly, thinking back to how Ling had said there were people who’d love to get their hands on him. He really hoped that Ling wasn’t an escaped convict or anything like that, because he was fairly sure he could get arrested for withholding information.

“You saved someone from a burning building, risking your own life in the process, and you don’t even know his last name?” The same reporter asked skeptically, looking at Edward as though he knew that he was lying.

Edward glared at him even harder; he was really beginning to hate this reporter dude. “Forgive me for not asking for a last name, as I was a little more focused on getting him out of the building. Had I left him there he would’ve died, and I figured that keeping him alive was more important than knowing who he was.” Edward replied, daring the reporter to once again question his motives.

The reporter suddenly smirked, as though he had gotten exactly what he wanted from Edward. “Several eye-witnesses have told me that you were the one to tell everyone to get down, just a few moments before the bomb went off. Can you tell me what prompted you to do such a thing?” he asked, moving the microphone even closer to Edward’s face.

“I’m sure you’ve reported your fair share of mass shootings and events like what happened here today, so you know that someone dressed in extremely warm clothing on a day like this is almost always the culprit. The fact that several mall cops attempted to apprehend the person who did this, didn’t exactly make me feel all warm and fuzzy about the situation. I figured it was better to be embarrassed that I was wrong, than to let people get hurt because I didn’t warn them.” Edward told the reporter, hoping that he would be able to leave very soon. The longer he stood there, the more obvious it was that he wasn’t as “fine” as he had said he was, and he needed to make sure that everyone was okay.

“Someone dressed like you?” The reporter asked with a sly look on his face.

Edward jerked back, as though he’d been slapped. The reporter had just indirectly accused him of setting off the bomb, and Edward felt as though he’d been sick for the second time that day.

Suddenly Mustang stepped in front of him, creating a barrier between Edward and the reporter and he felt a rush of gratitude towards Mustang. “Are you trying to insinuate that the person who risked his life to drag a complete stranger out of the building, helped set off the bomb?” Mustang asked incredulously.

The reporter suddenly backtracked, looking flustered as he tried to insist that he hadn’t meant anything by the comment.

Mustang didn’t wait around for the reporter to finish his explanation, instead turning around and grabbing Edward’s good shoulder. “Let’s go, Fullmetal.” Mustang said loudly, clearly dismissing the reporter.

Edward allowed himself to be steered away from the throng of reporters and paramedics, just glad that he didn’t have think for a few seconds. He had no idea where they were going, but he’d made enough decisions for the day, so he was fine with letting Mustang guide him. All he wanted to do was find his brother along with everyone else, and then go home and sleep, so he could hopefully forget about this day.

“People seem to really enjoy blaming you for things.” Mustang spoke up, breaking the silence after a few moments of walking.

“Huh?” Edward asked, confused by Mustang’s seemingly random statement.

“Earlier in the week, everyone was blaming you for breaking Hughes’ arm, and now they’re attempting to blame you for the bomb.” Mustang clarified.

“I guess so.” Edward replied tiredly, as the adrenaline that had been keeping him going, back in the building, crashed. He was starting to feel the full extent of his injuries, and the urge to just collapse was stronger than ever. If not for his need to make sure that Alphonse was okay, he probably would’ve succumbed to it.

Mustang shot him a worried look and opened his mouth as though he was going to say something, but the sudden cries of “Edward” and “Roy” caused him to close it.

Edward looked up just in time to see Sheska and Winry running towards him, before he was swept into an impromptu group hug.

“We thought you were dead!” Winry exclaimed, pulling out of the hug to glare at him.

Edward suddenly felt a huge pang of guilt as he saw that Winry’s face was red and streaked with tears. He had managed to make her cry. It was only now that he realized it had been incredibly idiotic of him to go back and risk his life, even if it had been to save people’s lives. She had already lost her parents in a fire, and he hadn’t even thought of how she’d react to losing him in a fire as well.

“I’m so sorry Winry.” He said softly, running his good hand through her hair in an attempt to comfort her.

Sheska suddenly pulled back from the hug, and Edward’s guilt doubled as he saw that he’d also made her cry.

“Where’s Alphonse?” She asked him worriedly, looking over his shoulder, as though Edward were hiding him.

Edward froze, his blood going cold as terror consumed him. “What do you mean, where’s Alphonse?” he asked her, his voice unnaturally high from the panic that was lodged in his chest.

Winry and Sheska suddenly had mirror expressions of grief and horror. “He didn’t come out of the building with you?” Sheska asked incredulously, looking as though she wanted nothing more in the world, than for Edward to say he had.

It was only then that the situation was made completely clear to Edward. “He’s still in the building. My brother is still in the building.” Edward whispered, rooted to the spot, as Winry and Sheska started crying again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry....


	8. What's Broken Can be Fixed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sooooooo sorry, I had nine migraines over the course of nine days, making me a useless heap of pain incapable of coherent thought. The end of this chapter should soothe some of your emotional pain and I promise you the next chapter will be even happier. Here you go and I hope you enjoy.

**Winry’s POV**

Winry couldn’t stop the tears that left her, as she heard Edward brokenly whisper; “My brother is still in the building.”

This was the boy she had grown up with. The boy who had watched his mother die, and lost two limbs in the process, but had continued to fight to live. The boy who had lost the ability to do one of the things he loved most in the world, but had re-taught himself how to do it after enduring a solid year of hellish surgery. Edward had gone through terrible things that would shatter any other person, but never once had she seen him look as broken as he did now.

Looking at Edward, Winry felt as though she had lost two brothers, rather than finding out that she had possibly lost one.

Beside her, Sheska appeared to be in a similar emotional state, and Winry suddenly felt as though this couldn’t be real. She couldn’t have woken up this morning, and surely if she just concentrated hard enough, she would wake up in her comfortable bed with Den curled up right beside her.

It was Edward’s sudden burst of movement that pulled Winry from her state of disbelief, and she watched in horror, as he took off running in the direction of the building. It was clear to anyone who looked at him, that Edward was injured, but so great was his panic, that he ran as though he were completely unscathed.

Winry called his name, her voice filled with a mixture of frustration and grief, and was about to chase after him in an attempt to keep him alive, when Roy suddenly tackled Edward, taking him down in one swift movement.

Winry immediately ran forward, as she watched Roy attempt to restrain Edward, who was fighting viciously against him.

She reached Roy’s side just as he had managed to get Edward in a headlock, restraining his torso by wrapping his legs around him. It was truly a testament to how injured Edward was, that he had been so easily and quickly restrained, when Winry knew that he was highly proficient in mixed martial arts.

Edward was screaming profanities at Roy, and even as impossible as it seemed, he was still trying to get out of Roy’s grip, thrashing his limbs, and attempting to head-butt Roy.

Winry managed to help Roy restrain him by pinning Edward’s flailing legs to the ground, and effectively removing any remaining means of him escaping. It truly broke her heart to have to do this, and she knew that Edward was going to be extremely angry with her for awhile after this, but she couldn’t let him go back into the building. She couldn’t lose anyone else, no matter how selfish it seemed.

“Edward! You have to stop; going back into that building isn’t going to do anything but get you killed.” Winry pleaded desperately, hoping to get him to stop struggling. He was going to worsen his injuries if he kept it up.

By some bizarre stroke of luck, Edward actually listened to her for once, going limp in her and Roy’s grip. His head was bowed and his long bangs partially covered his face, but Winry could still see the tears that started running down his face, and she flinched.

“I’m sorry Winry.” He whispered, not looking up to meet her gaze. “I invited you guys here and now this happened. It’s all my fault.”

Winry felt anger surge through her, burning hot in her throat. How dare Alphonse do this to her and to Edward? If he came out of that building alive, then she was going to beat him within an inch of his life for putting her through this.

“It’s not your fault.” Winry said with conviction, not letting any of the anger she felt leak into her voice. Edward would mistake it for anger at him, and with the way that he blamed himself for everything; she didn’t want him thinking she was angry at him.

“Winry is right.” Roy spoke up, drawing her attention away from Edward. “You had nothing to do with this, and had you not been here today, so many more people would’ve died.”

Edward shook his head, and a bitter laugh came from his lips. “Had I just stayed with him, he wouldn’t still be in the building.”

Winry was taken aback by the amount of self loathing in Edward’s voice, and surprised by the pained expression that crossed Roy’s face at the sound of it. It looked as though he knew exactly what Edward was going through.

“Fullmetal, blaming yourself isn’t going to bring your brother out of that building, and unless you set that bomb off yourself, you are not responsible! The only people who are to blame for this, is the person who set off the bomb, and your brother for willingly going back.” Roy said with such intensity, that Winry found it hard to associate him with the guy who had been teasing Edward just an hour prior.

Winry saw Edward relax the smallest bit at Roy’s words, and she felt a swell of gratitude towards Roy for being able to say what she couldn’t put into words.

Suddenly, panicked cries were sounding from around the parking lot and Winry looked up, terrified of what she was going to find. Everyone was in a panicked frenzy, and it seemed that the only thing keeping them in the smallest semblance of order were the firefighters, who were shepherding people away from the building, instead of attempting to put it out. There were a good number of people who tried to rush past the wall of firefighters, but they were quickly restrained, not unlike Edward.

“What’s going on?!” Edward suddenly asked, the panicked mood of the scene reflected in his alarmed tone.

Winry would’ve answered him, but the same question was being played on loop in her head. Whatever it was, she knew that it couldn’t be good in the slightest, and she really needed Alphonse to get out of the building before she found out what it was.

Unfortunately, the situation quickly became apparent as a low rumbling sounded across the parking lot, coming straight from the building. The rumbling quickly grew into a roar, and then, as though in slow motion, the mall began collapsing.

Winry sat frozen in shock as parts of the building hit the ground with jarring crashes, and people screamed in hysteria. There was no way that this was real, this had to be one of her nightmares, where everything that could go wrong, did. Tears started falling silently down her face as she tried to convince herself that she’d wake up any moment now, despite it not having worked when she had tried it before.

Edward’s sudden cry of Alphonse ripped her from these delusions, and the utter desperation and grief that filled Edward’s voice was enough to tear a sob out of her. There was nothing left for her to hide behind; Alphonse had been trapped in a building that was collapsing and was likely dead.

* * *

 

When the rumbling finally stopped and the dust cleared, it was dead silent. The once proud East City shopping mall was nothing more than a pile of rubble. There was no way that anyone left in there was alive and grief hung above them, like heavy storm clouds ready to burst at any moment. The only thing keeping the hysteria from once again claiming everyone was the shock over the building collapsing.

Winry didn’t want to look at Edward, as she knew what she was going to find. The grief she felt over Alphonse was unbearable, but she knew that whatever pain she felt, Edward was feeling tenfold and it would all be reflected on his face.

However, Winry needed to look at someone, to take solace in a sight that wasn’t the decimated building. So she turned to face Roy. Roy was completely frozen, his face one of utter shock and disbelief, as though he were still processing what had just happened. It was as if he couldn’t comprehend that the building had come down. He stared at the building with tense shoulders, clutching Edward tightly, as though to ground himself to reality.

As terrible as it was, Winry took comfort in the fact that she was not the only one having trouble assuring herself that everything wasn’t a dream.

Heartened by the knowledge that she wasn’t alone in her current state of mind, Winry was summoning up the courage to look at Edward, and offer him the emotional support that he would need, when Sheska suddenly let out a cry of joy.

Winry immediately jolted up and looked over at Sheska, hope filling her, as she was certain there was only reason that Sheska would be that happy in a situation like this. Sure enough, Sheska was crying tears of joy and pointing at the unmistakable sight of Alphonse, who was walking towards them, alive as could be.

Alphonse looked relatively unharmed, save for the nasty scratch that was on his cheek from the initial force of the explosion. He was carrying a little girl with one arm and apparently she was no more harmed than he was, as Alphonse completely bypassed the waiting paramedics. Alphonse had a cat carrier in his other arm, and suddenly Winry knew exactly why he had turned back and left them.

In one fluid motion, Winry sprang up off of Edward’s legs and ran directly towards Alphonse. First she was going to hug him and tell him off for worrying her, and then she was going to punch the living daylights out of him for putting Edward through hell.

Alphonse clearly saw her coming and the speed in which terror consumed his expression would’ve been amusing if not for the fact that Winry was livid. He immediately set the girl down gently, as though fearful for her health, before clutching the cat carrier tightly to his chest.

If Winry had been angry before, it was nothing compared to what she felt now. There was no way she was going to hug him before she punched him, not after he assumed that the first thing she was going to do would be to go after whatever was in the cage the idiot had gone back for. She had been worried sick over Alphonse, but right now she needed to hit him for what he had put Edward through. Afterwards though, she would definitely be hugging him, and making sure that he wasn’t hurt beyond the scratch on his cheek.

Winry came to a halt right in front of Alphonse and smiled sweetly, momentarily disarming him, before throwing a punch that would make Izumi proud.

“HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO YOUR BROTHER!? WE ALL THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD AND EDWARD HAD TO BE PHYSICALLY RESTRAINED IN ORDER TO KEEP HIM FROM RUNNING BACK INTO THE BUILDING!” Winry yelled angrily as Alphonse rubbed his uninjured cheek from the small distance he’d been knocked back.

Alphonse carefully bent down and set the cat carrier on the ground, as though he expected more violence and Winry was a heartbeat away from delivering his expectations when she saw a kitten through the bars. Alphonse apparently saw her looking at the kitten, as when she trained her gaze on him, he had a guilty expression and his hands in the air to convey his innocence.

“It’s not what it looks like.” Alphonse stammered out quickly. Winry raised an eyebrow.

“Oh really? Because it looks to me as though you went back into a burning building FOR A KITTEN!” she replied, yelling the last part.

Alphonse flinched and his guilty expression intensified. “Okay, it’s a little bit what it looks like, but there are more than one kitten in there, and if I hadn’t gone back then May would’ve died.” He countered defensively.

Winry assumed that by May, Alphonse meant the girl he had been carrying, and raised her other eyebrow. “Tell me Alphonse, how would she have died, because it looks to me as though she is in perfect health?” she asked, a falsely calm tone masking the rage she was barely concealing.

Alphonse straightened up his posture as though this time he had a solid defense. “She was passed out from exhaustion and smoke inhalation. I only knew she was alive because she had a miniature panda that was trying to rouse her.” He stated, pointing to said miniature panda on his shoulder, which Winry had somehow managed to miss.

Winry felt all her remaining anger at Alphonse fade, and threw her arms around him, carefully avoiding the panda. “I was worried about you, idiot.” She whispered fondly into his ear, and Alphonse chuckled back in reply, returning her embrace. They broke apart after a few moments, and Alphonse immediately trained his attention beyond Winry, and she assumed he was looking at Edward.

Winry turned around to check on Edward, a sudden pang or guilt lodging itself in her chest for running off without warning, and saw something that made her heart clench. Edward had to be really hurt, because he was allowing Roy to help him up off the ground, and while he didn’t look too happy about it, he was actively using Roy as a crutch. His right arm swung freely by his side, clearly useless, and Winry had to suppress a scowl at seeing her precious prosthetics broken. Judging by Edward’s limp his leg wasn’t in much better shape.

Roy was shooting Edward concerned looks whenever Edward wasn’t glaring at him, but as soon as Winry caught his eye, he schooled his features into a blank expression. Winry frowned, but before she could make heads or tails of the situation, Alphonse was running straight towards Edward.

Winry sighed and went to pick up the cat carrier. She was still angry that he had gone back to save a bunch of cats, but it was such an Alphonse thing to do that she had nothing more to say on the subject. Izumi however, Winry thought with a smirk, would not be anywhere near as forgiving as she was, so it was unlikely that Alphonse would be able to keep any of the cats.

Just before Winry was able to pick the cage up, she was met with the glare of the little girl Alphonse had saved. She remembered he had called her May, so she smiled and held out her hand despite the girl’s unfriendly manner. “Hello May, I’m Winry.” She introduced easily, looking the girl over.

May was short, with long black braided hair tied up in two buns. She looked as though she couldn’t be more than nine, but Winry had learned not judge age based on height after growing up around Edward. Of course he’d probably kill her if he ever heard her say that.

May narrowed her shockingly violet eyes and crossed her arms. “You hit Alphonse.” She said accusingly, ignoring her outstretched hand.

Winry blinked at the venom in her accusation and dropped her hand, before realizing that to those who didn’t know her or the situation, punching Alphonse seemed terrible. “Well…yes I did punch Alphonse, but I’ll definitely apologize to him for it later.” Winry replied reassuringly, attempting to ease the glare off May’s face. Explaining to May that Alphonse deserved it likely wouldn’t go over well, so she figured appearing contrite would be the best way to win her over.

May looked at her suspiciously for a few moments before nodding slowly. “You’re right, you will apologize later.” She said imperiously, and Winry didn’t like the smirk she had plastered across her face one bit.

Winry nodded with a fake smile and picked up the cat carrier, before the urge to strangle May became unbearable.

The cat carrier was heavier than Winry expected, and she wondered just how many cats Alphonse had managed to rescue. With an exasperated sigh, she began carrying it over to where Edward and Alphonse were standing. May followed her, seeming content to stay silent and watch everything with eyes that were brimming with intelligence and far too wise for a nine year old.

“How old are you?” Winry asked May curiously, hoping that knowing more about the girl would erase the less than pleasant feelings she had for her.

“Fourteen.” May answered nonchalantly. Winry’s eyes widened as the realization that May was only a year younger than her sunk in. If Edward heard of this, then she’d never hear the end of how he wasn’t short because there was someone far shorter than him.

“Do me a favor and never tell Ed that.” She told May warningly.

May shot her a questioning look, but otherwise didn’t react, staying silent until they reached Edward and Alphonse.

* * *

 

Winry had a feeling that this day was only going to keep getting worse. Edward had taken the bus home despite the fact he was barely able to walk, so Alphonse had accompanied him, leaving Winry stuck in Roy’s car with the cat carrier full of kittens. Kittens who apparently did not appreciate the car ride, as they were screeching in high pitched meows. She was also positive that there was a puppy in the cage, because cats definitely did not bark.

Sadly this wasn’t the worst thing about the car ride home. May didn’t have any place to stay, due to the fact that she had lost sight of her half brother somewhere in the aftermath of the explosion and had no idea where the hotel they were staying in was located. So Alphonse, being the Good Samaritan, had offered to let May stay over at his house, despite Edward’s objections. What Alphonse failed to realize, was that Izumi was going to be beyond pissed. Not only was Alphonse bringing home a bunch of kittens and a puppy, but he was also bringing home a human being. In other words, Winry would be surprised if there was anything left of Alphonse when the day was through. If not for that fact that she’d have to disconnect Edward’s ruined prosthetics, and attach the shitty backup ones, then she would’ve avoided their house like the plague.

At least she’d have an excuse to avoid their chaotic house while fixing the prosthetics, and boy did she have plans for those. Edward was likely going to give her full reign to do whatever she wanted in repairing them in an attempt to keep her calm, and while she should be hurt that he expected her to be angry, she was more excited at the rare opportunity she was getting to upgrade them. Besides she had overacted a lot in the past, so his fear wasn’t completely unfounded.

“Would you please ask the cats to keep it down?” Roy suddenly asked from the driver’s seat, an irritated expression visible on his face in the rearview mirror, pulling her from her daydreams of prosthetics.

Winry was fairly sure that he was only joking, but she decided to take the puppy out, thinking that maybe it would help the kittens settle down. Carefully, so as not to let the kittens escape, Winry opened the gate and extracted the crying puppy, before quickly shutting the crate.

Unable to hold the wiggling mass of fluff and the cat carrier simultaneously, Winry turned to Sheska, who she’d been almost hyperaware of the whole car ride. “Could you hold the puppy for me?” she asked hopefully.

Sheska's face lit up at the question and she gently, yet eagerly, took the puppy from her outstretched hand and brought it close to her chest. “He’s so cute.” She cooed happily, rubbing the puppy’s ears and smiling.

Winry couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face at the adorable sight of Sheska cuddling the puppy, and her heart skipped a beat at the sound of Sheska's delighted giggle when the puppy licked her nose. Suppressing the feelings she had for her best friend was getting harder and harder as the days passed, and though she felt guilty for crushing on her, Winry couldn’t help but relish moments like this when she got to see Sheska do adorable things.

The crush had been going on for quite awhile, and despite everything she’d done to try and suppress it until it was nonexistent, it only seemed to grow and flourish. So unable to destroy it, she’d hid it, and Winry felt that she’d done a rather impressive job, seeing as not even Alphonse knew about it. Of course it was moments like this where seeing Sheska do something adorable, that caused her to slip up and go all gooey-eyed.

Luckily, Sheska seemed too distracted by the puppy to notice, and once Winry regained her senses, she was able to look away unnoticed. Well, apparently not entirely unnoticed, as she caught Roy’s all too knowing gaze in the rearview mirror. Winry flushed in embarrassment, but remembering Roy’s concerned looks towards Edward, she raised an eyebrow challengingly in return. There was definitely more than just animosity on Roy’s side of their dysfunctional relationship, so he could hardly judge her.

Roy immediately trained his eyes back on the road, the blank expression she’d seen back at the mall, once again in place, affirming her suspicions. She’d definitely have to tell Sheska and Alphonse about it later.

Having nothing to distract her, Winry suddenly realized that Roy’s request had been the first words spoken in the car, and with the kittens having settled down considerably after removing the puppy, it was once again silent. The silence grew tense as it dragged on, and Winry began wishing for the kittens to once again make noise.

There had been too much grief and terror that afternoon for any jokes to be made lightheartedly, and no one wanted to turn on the car radio for fear that there’d be a report of the mall bombing, so the silence continued.

Luckily it only took a few more minutes before Roy stopped in front of Ed and Al’s house and the three girls were able to escape the tension that had been building in the car.

“Bye Roy, thanks for the ride.” Winry told him in a falsely cheerful tone, attempting to dilute the tension that had built up in the car as she exited it.

Roy nodded with an equally fake smile in reply, before quickly driving off and leaving the girls in the driveway.

With a sigh, Winry began walking towards the front door, hoping that Edward and Alphonse had beat them home so she wouldn’t have to explain the situation to Izumi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how short this was, but i hoped you enjoyed it. The next chapter will be back at Edward's point of view, and though I'll probably be late, I'll try to update ASAP.


	9. Secrets and Surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry of how late this is! Writing it was really hard and i'm still not completely happy with this, but it's over 10,000 words, so i hope you enjoy it.

Edward woke up on the couch that morning groggy, confused, and very sore. He wasn’t quite sure what time it was, but he knew it was far too early for him to have woken up on his own. With a groan he opened his eyes and stared blearily at what had woke him up.

That what turned out to be his brother, who was staring down at him with a concerned expression and a miniature panda sitting on top of his head. Edward blinked confusedly, unsure if he was actually awake, until he saw the large bandage on Alphonse’s cheek.

Suddenly the events of yesterday came rushing back to him, and he remembered coming home to a furious Izumi who had proceeded to ground Alphonse on the spot. Edward hadn’t been able to bail him out of trouble, seeing as his brother had brought home eight kittens, one dog and a human, so he’d simply watched as Izumi had demanded that Alphonse find homes for all of the kittens first thing in the morning. It was a fitting punishment, but from Alphonse’s reaction, you would’ve thought Izumi had told him that she was going to drown them all.

Afterwards she’d turned to Edward, and he remembered being terrified of what punishment she’d dole out for him. However, Izumi had simply called him an idiot and swept him into a tight hug. Sure he still had to find the puppy Alphonse had brought home a home within the week, but that really wasn’t a punishment for him. The scariest part had been when she’d threatened to make them help Sig in the butcher shop he owned if they ever did something like that again, but she wouldn’t be Izumi if there hadn’t been a terrifying or unsavory threat thrown in.

From then on everything was a blur for him and he must've passed out on the couch after Winry switched out his ruined prosthetics for the backups.

“Good morning.” Alphonse said in a sing song voice that was far too cheery to be anything other than mocking.

Edward glared at his brother and let out another groan, wishing he had a blanket to pull up over his head. “Why are you waking me up?” Edward asked Alphonse sourly. “I’m injured and sleep helps repair cells, so by waking me up you are inhibiting my recovery.” He grumbled, before closing his eyes to go back to sleep. His argument was very scientific, especially considering his brain didn’t work properly until at least his first cup of coffee, so he was confident that Alphonse couldn’t counter it.

“That would indeed be very true, if not for the fact that you’ve been asleep for over sixteen hours. Now get up and take a shower already because you reek.” Alphonse replied in his lawyer voice, leaving zero room for any arguments. Edward really hated it when his brother was right.

With a reluctant sigh, he opened his eyes and saw Alphonse cuddling the evil panda victoriously. “Fine, I’ll get up and shower, but just remember this is under protest.”

Alphonse rolled his eyes and picked up a bundle of cloth off of the armchair, before throwing it at him. Normally Edward would’ve been able to catch it, but he only had one functioning arm and was still half asleep, so the bundle hit him square in the face, before falling and revealing a very amused expression on his brother’s face. Edward just stared at his brother in return with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if that had really been necessary. Sure he knew that his brother wasn’t the angel everyone thought he was, but this was definitely out of character.

“Those are your clothes; I grabbed them for you, since May is currently sleeping in your room.” Alphonse explained with an innocent smile.

Edward glared at Alphonse. They had a perfectly good guest room; in fact they had several that the midget could’ve stayed in, which meant that by allowing her to stay in his room Alphonse was planning something. Unfortunately, Edward was fairly sure that smothering his brother with a pillow as payback would go against the no violence promise he’d made to Winry, so he decided to let Alphonse believe that he was completely clueless about the shit he was pulling.

With another groan Edward reluctantly pulled himself off of the couch, and gingerly stretched, trying to work out all of the kinks without aggravating one of his many injuries. Figuring that the warm shower would likely work out the knots he couldn’t stretch out, Edward dropped his arm and grabbed the pile of clothes, before limping unsteadily towards the bathroom.

Reaching the bathroom was more difficult than he’d hoped, as he only had one arm and was unused to his backup prosthetic leg, but he managed to get there without falling down. He was just about to shut the door, when Alphonse suddenly thrust something against his chest, before dashing off towards the kitchen without a single word of explanation.

Edward automatically clutched the object against his chest, trying to keep it from falling to the ground, and scowled at his brother’s retreating back. If he hadn’t already thought his brother was planning something before, then this definitely would’ve definitely tipped him off.

“Dammit Al.” he grumbled irritably, before shutting the bathroom door, perhaps a little harder than strictly necessary. He awkwardly dropped the clothes to the floor, and then set what Alphonse had handed him gently on the sink counter, before bending down to pick up the clothe and setting them right next to what he now recognized as his backup arm prosthetic. Winry had originally built him a working replacement arm prosthetic, which had been a work of pure genius, considering his arm was amputated at the shoulder and she’d had to find a way to attach it without it being exactly like his regular prosthetics.

The backup arm was designed to be lighter and much gentler on his body, since he was almost always injured whenever he broke his arm. Unfortunately, Edward had broken the backup in a moment of pure idiocy, so Winry had built an arm that strapped on across his torso and was made purely to make it look like he still had an arm. He only ever wore it whenever he had company, or had to leave the house, since it was otherwise useless.

If Alphonse was planning on making Edward help him find the kittens a home, then Edward was going to break his promise to Winry. Sure he loved his brother, but he was not going to spend his Sunday cat-sitting.

Edward shook his head in exasperation, tired of speculating what his brother was up to, and used the mirror to begin unwinding the many bandages Winry had covered him in. The soot and grime he was coated in was a stark contrast against the white of the bandages and Edward felt a pang of guilt for sleeping on the couch in his current state.

It took awhile, but Edward finally managed to untangle himself from all of the bandages, most of which had needed to be changed anyways. Free of the bandages, he carefully got out of his clothes, which were tragically torn in many areas and smelled strongly of smoke. There was no saving them, especially seeing as they’d been on fire at one point, so he regretfully balled them up and tossed them in the small wastebasket. He’d actually liked that outfit too.

His hair was in the same braid he’d worn yesterday, only now it more closely resembled a bird’s nest, sticking up in all directions with a bunch of crap stuck in it. He pulled the rubber band out of his braid and decided that he’d let the shower do the work of untangling it.

More than ready to finally be clean, Edward limped over to the shower and turned on the faucet, letting the heat adjust before carefully stepping in the tub.

* * *

 

After he’d gotten out of the shower and had properly dressed his wounds, Edward had strapped on his prosthetic and thrown his hair in a lose side ponytail over his shoulder. Then, he’d warily picked up the clothes Alphonse had picked out for him, and carefully examined them.

There really wasn’t anything in his closet that he was opposed to wearing, but Alphonse was up to something, so Edward wasn’t taking any risks. Thankfully, his brother wasn’t trying to torture him, as the clothes seemed normal enough.

Though it wasn’t something he’d normally wear for fear of ruining it with grease stains, Edward was in no way against the pale pink shirt that read ‘Thank God I’m an Atheist’. It was long sleeved like the majority of the shirts he owned, and Sheska had bought him the t-shirt for Easter.

Seeing no need to go upstairs and exchange his clothes, Edward quickly dressed and left the bathroom with a smile.

Judging by how quiet the house was when he exited the bathroom, Edward was assuming that Alphonse had left while he was in the shower, leaving Edward to fend for himself. On the bright side, that meant Alphonse wasn’t making Edward help him find homes for the cats. Unfortunately it also meant that Edward would have to make his own breakfast.

He desperately needed his coffee, but with Alphonse gone, that would have to wait until he’d grabbed a few things from his room. Hopefully he didn’t wake up May, because Alphonse would lecture him for being rude and then make him apologize for going in his own room.

Edward managed to successfully drag himself up the stairs without falling down, which he counted as a victory. He quietly opened the door to his room, unsure of what he would find. Surprisingly it was empty, with the bed made; looking as though no one had slept in it at all.

Edward felt his eye twitch in irritation, as he realized that Alphonse had tricked him. There was no way that Alphonse would’ve let someone sleep in his room in the state it was in, so he should’ve known that excuse was pure bullshit. For whatever reason, Alphonse had been trying to keep him from coming upstairs.

Grumbling about all the ways he was going to creatively get back at Alphonse, Edward limped angrily into his room and grabbed his phone off the bedside table. How it got up in his room when he’d left it downstairs, Edward had no clue. At this point he was just going to blame everything on his brother.

Edward shoved his phone into his pocket, and then opened the drawer where he kept his extra gloves, grabbing a pair. He was constantly going through them, so he just bought them in bulk.

Tossing them on his bed, Edward grabbed a pair of socks from his dresser, awkwardly slipping them on before retrieving his gloves and leaving the room.

He was mentally preparing to start his perilous journey down the stairs, when he suddenly heard something that sounded suspiciously like a cat. Edward paused and listened, hearing it again, coming straight from Alphonse’s room.

Suddenly the reason behind Alphonse preventing him from coming up the stairs made sense. That little shit had kept one of the cats.

As much as Edward wanted to ignore the cat so he could claim zero accountability when Izumi found out about it, he figured that it would be unfair to the cat to just leave it trapped in there. With the feeling that he was really going to regret this, Edward turned around and headed towards Alphonse’s room, before opening the door.

He was greeted by the sight of a three legged kitten lying upside down, in the middle of Alphonse’s pristine carpet. It looked absolutely furious, with its black fur standing on end, and its tail moving rapidly back and forth. Despite its only slightly formidable appearance, Edward couldn’t help but feel sorry for the cat. After all, he’d be pissed too if he’d been left all alone, unable to walk anywhere.

Walking towards it warily, in case it decided it wasn’t pleased with his presence like most cats did, Edward bent down and gingerly picked the cat up buy its scruff.

Instead of flipping out like he’d expected it too, the cat immediately started purring while dangling immobile from his grasp.

Unsure of what to do with the purring menace, Edward stared bemusedly into the cat’s eyes, one of which was green, the other being gold.

“You are the strangest cat I’ve ever seen.” he told the cat sternly, only to receive a lazy eye blink in return. Deciding that he couldn’t just leave the cat alone, Edward held the cat out in front of him in case it was merely lulling him into a false sense of security, and carried it with him back down the stairs.

As soon as Edward had reached the bottom of the stairs, the puppy Izumi had made Edward responsible for, started crying loud enough to be heard from the kitchen. Edward groaned and looked at the cat in his hand, as it stiffened at the sound of the puppy’s cries. Figuring it wouldn’t get along with the puppy, Edward set it on the couch and went to get the puppy.

* * *

 

The puppy was standing up on its hind legs in its newspaper lined box when Edward walked into the kitchen, crying as though it was being tortured. As soon as it saw Edward’s face however, it stopped crying, and its little tail started wagging furiously. Edward wondered what exactly was in the water that made two animals calm down at the sight of him. Dogs tended to tackle him enthusiastically; while cats tried to rip his head off, and as a result Edward had been left with the distinct impression that no animal would ever have a normal reaction to him.

Shaking his head in confusion, Edward reached into the box and petted the puppy’s head for a few moments, before he heading over to the coffee pot. The dog wasn’t going to die if it didn’t leave the box immediately, but Edward was fairly sure he was going to collapse if he didn’t have coffee as soon as possible.

Quickly preparing the pot, Edward filled it up with water and then turned it on; making it so the coffee would be just as dark as he normally took it. If Winry found out, she would probably harp on him about how it wasn’t good for him, especially since he was injured, but what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

The puppy had started whimpering while Edward had been making coffee, but quickly stopped once Edward picked it up out of the box. He figured the puppy likely had to use the bathroom, so he decided to take it outside and get an early start on potty training.

Edward could hear the kitten screaming as soon as he left the kitchen, so he took a detour, stopping by the couch in the living room. The kitten looked very irate, glaring accusingly at him, as though chewing him out for leaving it alone.

If the animals got any more dramatic, then Edward was going to start a circus.

Seeing as he was unable to carry both the kitten and puppy at the same time, along with the fact it was unlikely they’d get along, Edward left the angry feline on the couch and took the puppy out into the front yard.

* * *

 

After the puppy had used the bathroom twice, wandered into the road several times causing Edward to chase after it, and had almost killed itself by attempting to eat poisonous plants, Edward decided it was time for the furry disaster to come back inside.

Scooping up the wiggling ball of fluff, Edward carried it inside, despite its adorable protests. There was no force present on the earth that would protect Edward from his brother’s wrath if he allowed the stupid puppy to get hurt, so hopefully someone would find its suicide attempts endearing and adopt it, before the stupid thing finally succeeded.

Walking inside with the puppy held tightly in his grasp, Edward groaned as the first thing he heard was the kitten screeching. The kitten apparently had not appreciated Edward’s absence, as it had reached new heights in volume, immediately making its distress known to all who walked in the door. How the tiny thing was so loud, Edward had no idea, but he needed to make it shut up before it woke up Izumi.

If he didn’t know any better Edward would say that the animals had collaborated, deciding to make him as miserable as possible.

After carefully setting the puppy on the floor hoping it didn’t get hurt or ruin the house, Edward hurried into the living room to silence the cat.

“I hope you know that if I never raise any children, it’ll be all your fault.” Edward scolded the kitten irritably, watching it stare up at him innocently.

The kitten only meowed loudly in reply, raising a front paw up towards him.

With a sigh and against his better judgment, Edward bent down slightly and lightly stroked the top of the kitten’s head.

Apparently that was all it took to make the evil thing happy, because the kitten immediately started purring louder than seemed possible, and leaned into his palm. Unable to resist, Edward stroked it again, and received the same enthusiastic response.

“What, did no one ever pet you?” Edward asked the kitten amusedly, before realization suddenly struck him. Many people weren’t fond of amputated animals, often considering them broken or unhealthy, not to mention the fact that a surprising amount of people still considered black cats unlucky. This double whammy would make almost everyone avoid the cat, and the fact that it couldn’t walk likely make it so it didn’t get to play with the other kittens. It was highly possible that Edward was one of the very few people to pet the kitten.

Edward felt a stab of sympathy for the poor, affection deprived animal, and suddenly had the overwhelming urge to pick it up and cuddle it. He knew he should suppress that urge since it would only make him get attached to the cat, but Edward wasn’t exactly known for doing what he was supposed to.

Carefully picking the kitten up, Edward brought it close to his chest, cradling it with his arm. The kitten snuggled into him in return, butting its head against his chest for more attention, and it was that moment Edward knew he was a goner. It had barely been fifteen minutes, but he knew for sure he was keeping this very loud, very evil, kitten.

“I hope you realize what a big mistake you’ve made.” Edward told the cat warningly. “I’m the wrong Elric to get attached to; after all it was Alphonse who saved you from the building.”

The kitten didn’t give any indication it had heard him, instead using its tiny claws to clumsily climb up his chest and haul itself onto his shoulder. Three legs may prevent it from walking, but the kitten was definitely still able to climb.

“If you fall down, I’m going to point and laugh.” Edward said, lying to the kitten when it rubbed its head against his cheek, even as he slowly lifted his arm to stroke its head again.

He supposed if he was keeping the kitten, he should buy it stuff like food and a place to crap, as well as give it a name. Izumi might try to murder him for keeping it, but he could cross that bridge when he got to it. Besides, it wasn’t like anyone in the house was allergic to cats, the only reason Alphonse had never been able to keep one, was because they all knew he wouldn’t stop at just one.

Contemplating what exactly he was going to get the cat, Edward slowly walked back to the kitchen to retrieve his coffee, which should be long done by now.

* * *

 

It appeared that Edward needed to make arrangements for the tragically stupid puppy while he went shopping for the cat. In the short amount of time it took to drink a cup of coffee, the dog had attempted to chew up the couch, gotten crushed under a stack of falling books, and had then come running straight towards him while crying, before promptly pissed on the floor in sheer terror of the unknown.

Edward then had to quiet the cat, who had decided that his shoulder was not far enough from the dog, and had painfully climbed to the top of his head with its sharp claws and started growling. After depositing the puppy back in its box and cleaning up the puddle of piss, Edward spent a good five minutes trying to persuade the cat to retract its claws from his head. It wasn’t easy, but Edward managed to convince the evil thing to come back down to his shoulder.

“You two are going to make me dump you on the corner of the nearest street.” Edward told them exasperatedly, only to receive a playful head but from the cat, and puppy dog eyes from over the edge of the box from the dog. It seemed they were already able to see through his bullshit, and knew not to be fearful of his empty threats.

Already feeling his irritation at the animals fade, Edward walked to the bathroom to go grab the sling, so his prosthetic arm wasn’t dangling uselessly from his shoulder. He supposed the good thing about chasing after the animals all morning was that he’d grown accustomed to the difference of the prosthetic leg, allowing him to walk normally without any risk of face planting.

Detaching the kitten from his shoulder and gently setting it on the sink counter, Edward bent down and grabbed the sling out from under the sink. He stood back up only to come face to face with a very expectant looking cat. It likely wanted to be pet, and had he not been in the middle of putting on the sling he would have willingly obliged.

Edward quickly slung the sling over his good shoulder and folded his prosthetic neatly into it, so the cat wouldn’t start loudly demanding his attention. Luckily he was fast enough for the cat, as it had yet to start complaining when he deposited it back in its spot on his shoulder.

“You’re going to be the most spoiled cat on the face of the planet, aren’t you?” Edward asked rhetorically, eyeing the kitten out of the corner of his eye. The cat seemed content to ignore him, and Edward refused to look too deeply into the fact that he had been conversing with animals all morning.

* * *

 

Edward stood impatiently outside of Winry’s house, with a puppy in his hand and a disgruntled cat perched atop his head. He’d decided after grabbing his wallet, that letting Winry watch the animals while he walked down to the supermarket, would not only be the safest thing for the both of them, but would also pull Winry away from her work. Sure it would mean he would have to wait a bit longer for his limbs, but his sanity and the health of his childhood friend were much more important.

Surprisingly enough, it was Sheska who answered the door instead of Winry, meaning that she’d most likely stayed the night.

“Morning Sheska.” He greeted her tiredly, struggling to keep a hold of the dog.

Sheska took one look at him and burst into laughter, laughing so hard she had to use the door to stand upright. “You look ridiculous, Ed.” She finally choked out, after she was through laughing enough to finally speak.

Edward scowled, well aware of how he must look. The hair tie that had been in his hair had lost a valiant battle to the kitten, and so his hair was disheveled from both the kitten sitting on his head and the lack of a rubber band. The puppy was currently upside down, and Edward was clutching it tightly against his chest, because the stupid thing had attempted to jump out of his hand several times. In other words, Edward was more than ready to dump the animals with Sheska and Winry.

“Thanks.” He replied dryly, rolling his eyes and giving her an unimpressed look.

Sheska gave him a look in return, which he was sure, was supposed to be contrite, but just came across looking highly amused.

Edward sighed, figuring that was the closest he was going to get to an apology, and decided that at this point he could to afford to lose more dignity and beg her to take the cat and dog. “I have to run to the store, because apparently both Fido and the evil thing on my head need to eat, so could you make sure they don’t kill themselves while I’m gone?” he asked Sheska, hoping she wouldn’t force him to resort to blackmail.

Sheska, apparently just now seeing the way Edward was holding the puppy, immediately snatched it out of his grasp, with a horrified look on her face. “You are a terrible pet owner, how are they still alive!?” Sheska exclaimed, practically oozing disapproval.

Edward frowned, feeling incredibly offended. “Hey, I’m the only reason they aren’t dead.” He shot back defensively.

Sheska scoffed disbelievingly, but nodded her head after a moment of contemplation. “I’ll take care of the baby animals while you’re gone. However, you have to promise me not to neglect them.” She said sternly, her expression promising retribution if he didn’t swear to worship the very ground they walked on.

Edward sighed, and despite being thankful to her for agreeing to watch them, he felt irritated at her assumption that he would neglect the animals. “I promise that I’ll spoil them even more than Alphonse would.” He agreed with a fair bit of sarcasm, before reaching up and carefully disentangling the cat from his hair, intending to hand it over to Sheska.

Unfortunately as soon as Sheska held out her free hand to accept the cat, it started growling and thrashing as though it had been possessed. Edward immediately brought the kitten back to his chest, scared it would hurt both itself and Sheska, and it instantly quieted, climbing back up to his shoulder.

Sheska started laughing again, surprising Edward with her unorthodox reaction. “Only you would find a cat as violent and unsocial as yourself.” She said, presumably in explanation to the confused look on his face.

Edward scowled, but let her remark slide, seeing as he really couldn’t win that argument. “Yeah, yeah, you’re hilarious. Now, what the hell am I supposed to do with this evil thing?” He asked hopelessly.

“Take it with you.” Sheska replied, eyeing the kitten warily. “It may have separation anxiety if you leave it here, and I’m sorry Ed, but there’s no way I am going anywhere near your new pet.”

“Oi, what makes you think it’s mine!?” Edward exclaimed, unnerved by how she seemed to know everything. It wasn’t like he always walked around with a giant flashing neon sign that told everyone what he was going to do next.

Sheska just shook her head in reply, like he’d asked a stupid question, and went back into the house with the puppy.

Edward glared at the door that had been very rudely shut in his face, and made a face at it, before turning around and leaving the front porch. He could only hope that no one in the supermarket would object to the cat.

* * *

 

Edward was trying to shop. Trying being the key word because while he was fine with pretending like there wasn’t a cat currently sitting on his shoulder, it seemed no one else was.

Though no one stopped him, he was receiving both curious and incredulous looks from the customers and staff, and one person had knocked over a display of fruit in their shock. It would’ve been highly amusing, had all the attention not been directed at him.

He strolled down the aisles, attempting to look casual, despite how hard everyone around him was making it. Seriously a cat wasn’t near that big of a deal, and he’d seen plenty of people do stranger things in the supermarket without anyone batting an eye.

Fortunately, the pet supplies aisle was deserted, making Edward feel a lot less like an exhibit at a museum. Unfortunately, Edward had not a clue what to buy, aside from food for both animals and a litter box.

Edward frowned at the rows of pet crap, and decided that he would just start with what he knew for sure he needed, and go from there. Seeing as food was the first thing on the list, Edward walked over to the shelves with the bags of kibble on it, and scowled. There were far too many different types of food, for both dogs and cats. Did the puppy really need a food for sleek fur? It seemed like anyone who would choose that over food for a healthy immune system, needed to sort out their priorities.

Edward grabbed two bags of kibble for the cat and dog, both for strong immune systems, and threw them in his shopping basket before heading farther down the aisle for a litter box.

* * *

 

Edward may have overdone it. To be fair, he wasn’t entirely sure what owning a cat entailed, so really there was still a possibility he hadn’t actually gone too far. Sure the fluffy cat toys weren’t entirely necessary, but seeing as his new cat clearly had attachment issues, it was a safe bet.

The cashier who rung Edward up was clearly judging him; well, it was that or she had an issue with pet supplies that could only be absolved through intensive therapy. Either way, Edward was just glad her vendetta against cat toys didn’t transfer to his kitten, as he wasn’t too eager to be thrown out of the store in the same way the cashier was throwing his purchases into the bag.

As soon as he was able to pay, Edward quickly did so and then left the store. Until Winry repaired his prosthetics, Alphonse was gonna have to do the grocery shopping, because Edward wasn’t going back until he was confident he could take on the cashier if she decided to attack him.

With a last wary glance at the store, Edward turned around and began walking home. Though going home meant explaining to Izumi that he’d adopted a cat, Edward figured the sooner he got it over with, the better.

* * *

 

All Edward had wanted to do with the rest of his day, was go home and read about biochemistry while trying to keep the baby animals he was responsible for, alive. Naturally those plans were completely derailed, when he came home after picking up the puppy, only to find Mustang and his crew in his living room.

Everyone looked as though they’d been there for awhile, and had clearly made themselves at home, though how they’d gotten in there, Edward had no clue.

Hughes was the first to notice him, as everyone else was currently involved in what looked like a heated debate about writing utensils.

“Hey, Ed!” He called excitedly from his place on the couch, flashing him a bright smile.

Edward scowled in return. Did Hughes honestly have the audacity to smile and wave, after breaking into his house? “No offense, but what the fuck are you doing in my house?” he asked irritably.

Hughes looked at him with a confused and slightly hurt expression. “You invited us.” He replied and held up his phone, waving it slightly, as though it explained everything.

Edward opened his mouth to reply that he hadn’t invited anyone, when the bottom of his grocery bag suddenly gave out, dumping pet supplies and a very disgruntled puppy onto the floor.

“Shit.” He swore, before quickly scooping up the puppy so it didn’t do anything stupid, much to his cat’s distaste.

Edward winced as the kitten used its claws to clamber up the side of his face, and planted itself on top of his head for the third time that morning. He glared at the puppy, despite the fact that it wasn’t responsible for the claw marks that now littered the side of his face, and held it away from his body. He should’ve left the stupid thing with Sheska and Winry.

Edward was about to take the puppy to the kitchen and leave it in its box, when he got a perfectly evil idea. He would temporarily ignore the fact that everyone was in his house uninvited, and instead use them to take care of the dog, while he was busy.

With a smirk, Edward walked over to the couch, and dropped the puppy right in Mustang’s lap. “Take care of this for me, will ya?” He asked flippantly, and then headed towards the kitchen to grab a bag, before Mustang had time to respond.

* * *

 

When Edward came back to the living room, things were not as he had left it. Hawkeye was holding the puppy in her lap, while Havoc sat next to her, sporting a red handprint on his face. Hughes was laughing hysterically, likely for the same reason Mustang was sulking on the floor, and there was a broken coffee mug sitting on the table. Edward really didn’t want know what had happened, not if it meant he had to find out why exactly leaving the puppy with them was a terrible idea. He definitely wouldn’t be making the same mistake with his cat.

Steadfastly ignoring everyone, Edward walked over to the mess in front of the door. He wouldn’t have to clean it up in the first place, had he not bought so much stuff that his bag ripped, but for now Edward was going to ignore that piece of logic.

Crouching down, Edward began stuffing everything in the unbroken bag he’d procured from the kitchen. Though he knew that he should be setting things up, like the litter box or food bowls, Edward figured he could always deal with it later and decided to just leave the bag off to the side once he’d filled it.

“So, Ed, looks like your brother was able to have a pet after all.” Hughes said cheerily, just as Edward was carrying the now full bag over to the coffee table.

Edward raised an eyebrow questioningly; confused by what gave Hughes that notion, before realizing that he was carrying pet supplies. “Ah, actually I’m the one who’s keeping a pet.” He said, slightly abashed, setting everything onto the table. “Alphonse decided he was going to keep one of the cats, but I found it in his room earlier, so now I’m keeping it.”

Hughes looked highly amused by his answer, and pointed over to the puppy. “What about that little guy, are you keeping him?”

Edward immediately made a face and vehemently shook his head. He would either wind up murdering that puppy if he had to keep it, or it would wind up killing itself if left under his negligent care. Either way, the dog would meet an untimely end if it were to become his pet.

“I’m only watching over it, I mean him, until I find that stupid thing a home.” Edward replied, shooting the puppy a glare. Yeah sure it was cute, but Edward had cleaned up after the puppy, and it was a lot less cute when it was peeing on the floor.

“Have you had any luck so far?” Hawkeye asked, speaking up for the first time.

Edward regretfully shook his head. “No, I’ve only had him for less than a day, so I haven’t done anything to actively seek out any prospective owners. Luckily I have until the end of the week before Izumi gets mad, but I really don’t want to be stuck with the puppy for that long.”

Hawkeye was silent for a few moments, looking as though she was mulling something over, before nodding her head decisively. “I can adopt him if that’s all right with you.

Edward stared at her in shock, before nodding his head frantically. “Are you kidding? I’m more than fine with you adopting him! He’s not potty trained yet, but I did just buy some kibble from the store, so that’s one less thing you have to worry about.”

Hawkeye smiled sinisterly at the puppy. “Oh I assure you, Black Hayate will be potty trained in no time. There’s a very quick learning curve at my house.”

Edward shivered in fear and raised a protective hand over his kitten. Not only was Hawkeye terrifying, but she was also terrible at naming animals.

“What a good name.” Mustang said, breaking the silence that had followed Hawkeye’s announcement, before aiming a charming smile in her direction and finally picking himself off the floor.

Edward barely managed to suppress a snort at that, and Hughes had to smother his laughter with a fit of coughing. It appeared that both of them knew Mustang was full of shit.

Havoc, for whatever reason, glared at Mustang when he smiled at Hawkeye. Either Havoc had just as much as an issue with the name as Edward and Hughes did, or he was pissed at Mustang. Edward stuck with the latter, as being pissed with Mustang didn’t take much.

“Oh, good morning Fullmetal, didn’t see you there from all the way up here.” Mustang greeted him, immediately proving his earlier point and punctuating it with an infuriating smirk.

“Wow, I guess that stick is wedged so far up your ass that it’s affecting your eyesight. You might wanna get that checked out, it could be serious.” Edward shot back, choking back the knee jerk explosion that always occurred when someone called him short. Mustang always twisted it to his advantage, so his usual reaction was benched until further notice.

Hughes and Havoc burst into laughter at Edward’s response, and even Hawkeye smiled slightly.

“Nice one Boss.” Havoc exclaimed, beaming at him. Edward raised an eyebrow slightly at Havoc’s nickname for him, but returned his smile, deciding not to object to it. It was an improvement over Fullmetal.

Edward shot Mustang a smug grin, pleased to have finally one-upped him, only to see a mischievous glint in Mustang’s eyes. Narrowing his eyes, Edward regarded Mustang suspiciously. There was no way he wasn’t going to retaliate, not with that look in his eyes.

Mustang however, said nothing, instead he took a seat on the couch and continued looking at him with a smirk.

Edward had never wanted to punch someone more. The fact that Mustang didn’t need to do anything other than smirk to piss him off to this extent, was worrying.

“I’m going to get coffee.” Edward growled angrily, tearing his gaze off of Mustang’s smug ass. Punching him would likely piss off Izumi, and Edward had no desire to do that after the stint he’d pulled yesterday. This made coffee necessary as both an excuse to escape, and to prevent future acts of violence.

“There isn’t anymore.” Mustang spoke up cheerily, as Edward headed towards the kitchen clearly thrilled at having thoroughly pissed him off.

Swallowing the indignant ‘you drank my coffee!?’ that nearly sprang to his lips, Edward continued towards the kitchen, pretending he hadn’t heard Mustang.

* * *

 

Edward came back to the living room with a fresh cup of coffee and a marginal bit of patience, only to find that Hughes and Mustang had resumed the writing utensil debate. Hughes was arguing that pens were superior to pencils, while Mustang argued the opposite, leaving Edward to resist the urge to stab the both of them with their respective writing implements.

He looked over to Hawkeye in the hope that she would intervene, but she pretended not to see him, instead striking up a conversation with Havoc and proving herself to be a traitor.

seeing as he would receive no help, Edward chose to ignore them instead of committing murder in his living room, and headed towards the empty armchair. He stroked the kitten gently on his way to the chair and felt rather guilty for not naming it yet, especially seeing as Hawkeye had instantly named Black Hayate. Then again, that name was terrible, so maybe taking a leaf out of Hawkeye’s book wasn’t the best idea. Still, the cat deserved to be called something other than it.

Edward sat down in the chair, and carefully lifted the kitten off of his shoulder. It stared at him almost questioningly with its mismatched eyes, before giving a soft meow and purring. Edward smiled, feeling a rush of fondness for his evil kitten, and then lifted it up slightly higher to determine its gender.

His kitten was most definitely a girl. Edward gently lowered her down into his lap after procuring this fact, and watched amused as she instantly flopped over onto her back. Alphonse had always said that when a cat rolled over onto its back, it was a sign of trust, but Edward was fairly sure that it was just his kitten’s default position.

He wiggled his fingers at her front paws and laughed slightly as she batted at his hand, while mentally running through a list of names. He initially liked the name Tesla, but it didn’t seem to fit his cat. He wouldn’t give Winry and Sheska the satisfaction of naming her Buttercup, nor would he name his cat anything Alphonse would approve of. He debated giving her a normal name, so he could get out of things with the excuse of hanging out with her, but he got the feeling that the excuse would only work once.

Edward stared at his cat frustrated by his incompetence, while she purred away, oblivious to his frustration and practically glowing with contentment. It was then he got an idea for the name for the name. It fit perfectly and would piss Winry off to no end, which was definitely a plus.

He was naming his cat Yvaine.

* * *

 

Mustang and Hughes were still arguing. Edward was almost positive that they had covered every base possible for why their writing utensil was the best, and yet they still kept arguing.

Hawkeye still refused to intervene, which meant either stopping them was impossible, or this was something they did a lot and she was used to it by now. Either way, Edward was very close to snapping and doing something he may or may not regret, when there was suddenly a knock at the door.

Edward turned and stared at it in confusion, while in the background he heard Mustang and Hughes finally shut up. While he was apprehensive over who could possibly be coming over to his house, Edward was grateful that they had managed to do the impossible and stop the pointless debate.

“Are you expecting someone?” Hughes asked curiously.

Edward stood up, mindful of Yvaine, and shook his head. “No, but considering I wasn’t expecting you, I may have company anyway.”

Hughes looked slightly offended at that, and Edward mentally berated himself for his lack of tact. He’d forgotten that everyone thought he’d invited them over and had spoken carelessly as a result.

Edward made a beeline for the door to avoid the awkward situation he’d created and opened it.

To his surprise and confusion, Edward revealed Tucker standing on his front porch with Nina close at his side.

“Hello Edward, I know that this is really short notice, but I was wondering if you could watch Nina for a few of hours. I got called into the lab.” Tucker asked apologetically, before Edward could get a word in.

Edward carefully masked his anger at Tucker, as the man adjusted his glasses nervously. Tucker only ever saw Nina for an extended period of time on the weekends, and yet now he was abandoning her for work like it was no big deal.

“Yeah, I can watch her, no problem.” He replied, keeping his tone neutral and smiling at Nina as he said it. Tucker would no doubt just find someone else to watch Nina if Edward refused, and there was no way he was going to do anything to make Nina feel unwanted.

Tucker’s face melted into one of relief, as though his only worry had been finding someone to watch Nina. “Thank you, Edward. I’ll pay you extra for babysitting over the weekend.” He promised, before looking down at Nina. “Behave for Edward, Nina. I’ll be back before you go to sleep”

Nina’s face fell and she looked at Tucker utterly heartbroken. “But daddy, you said we were gonna play.” She protested, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

Tucker just shook his head and walked away without another word, ignoring Nina as she began to sob. Edward immediately crouched down in front of her and smiled gently, suppressing the rage he felt for Tucker.

“Hey Nina, guess what?” he asked her, setting his hand on her shoulder.

Nina’s sobs quieted until she was just hiccupping, and she looked up at him. “wha-hic-t?” she asked, rubbing her fists against her eyes.

“Do you remember my friends that we visited in the hospital?” he asked her, continuing once she’d nodded. “Well they’re inside with a puppy and a kitten, and I’m sure they’d be happy to play with you.”

Nina smiled slightly, still scrubbing furiously at her eyes. “Really?” she asked hopefully.

Edward nodded with a solemn expression. “Cross my heart.” He replied, and stood up, offering her his hand.

Nina took it and walked into the house with him, looking happier than she’d been a few minutes prior.

Everyone smiled at Nina from their spots in the living room, when they entered the house, clearly having heard everything through the open door.

“Hey Nina!” Hughes said happily, giving her a bright smile.

“Maes!” Nina exclaimed excitedly, releasing Edward’s hand and running towards Hughes. She immediately plopped down on the couch in between Hughes and Mustang, smiling from ear to ear.

Edward smiled while watching Nina, as she began to tell Mustang and Hughes about Alexander. He may not have invited them over, but Edward was thankful they were here.

* * *

 

Three hours later, Alphonse came home, bursting through the door as though there was someone chasing him. May was close behind him, her long braids flying out behind her as she followed his brother.

Edward quirked an eyebrow as his brother and May flew through the living and made their way upstairs, not even stopping to say hello. If Edward hadn’t known that Alphonse had tried to keep one of the kittens, he would be very concerned as to why Alphonse was running, but since he had claimed Yvaine as his own, Edward just found the whole situation very amusing.

“What’s wrong with Alphonse?” Hughes asked, staring curiously in the direction Alphonse had fled.

Edward smirked and gestured towards Yvaine, who was sleeping peacefully in his lap. “He thinks a three legged kitten is stranded in his room, after being left alone all day.”

Hughes’ face lit up in understanding, before he burst into laughter. “You’re evil.” He said in between laughing.

Edward smiled, doing nothing to deny the accusation. He was going to have a little fun with Alphonse, as he suspected that his brother had been the one to invite everyone over. He could already sense that this was going to mean war, but he was fairly sure he could persuade Winry and Sheska to join his side.

It was then that Alphonse came thundering down the stairs, a look of pure terror on his face. “Hey Ed, you haven’t seen anything unusual around here, have you?” he asked once he’d reached the living room, looking around nervously, likely for the kitten.

“You mean, other than four unexpected houseguests?” Edward asked innocently, tilting his head slightly to the side. “Can’t say I have.”

Hughes started laughing again, causing Alphonse to glance at him suspiciously before turning back to face Edward, the picture of contriteness.

“Admit it, brother. Had I not invited them, you would’ve gotten bored and started experimenting with either cooking or chemistry, and since you’ve only got one arm right now it would’ve been a disaster. I was really doing the world a favor.” Alphonse explained, still scanning the floor for the kitten.

Edward nodded slowly, as though accepting Alphonse’s bullshit, and began stroking Yvaine. “Oh, so it wasn’t to keep me from going upstairs and discovering you kept one of the kittens.” He replied in an exaggerated understanding tone.

Alphonse’s eyes instantly snapped up to meet Edward’s, before noticing the sleeping kitten Edward was petting.

“Her name is Yvaine and I’m keeping her.” Edward said before Alphonse could get a word in. He knew that there was going to be hell to pay later, but for now he was going to piss his brother off as much as possible.

Alphonse narrowed his eyes. “Fine, I’ll leave you to tell Izumi that you adopted a cat without her permission.” He said sulkily.

Edward smirked at that. Izumi had left about an hour ago to go get a new whetstone for the knives in the butcher shop, and had done nothing other than roll her eyes when she’d caught sight of Yvaine, so Edward had taken that as a sign that she was fine with her. Either that or she assumed that Yvaine wouldn’t last a week under Edward’s care and saw no reason to intervene.

“Oh, she’s completely fine with me owning a cat. I think its cause I’m her favorite, but if you wanna see if Yvaine likes you better, you’re free to try.” Edward said tauntingly, gesturing towards his kitten.

Alphonse took the bait, striding towards the armchair and crouching in front of it. He reached out a hand to stroke the top of Yvaine’s head, but before he could touch her, Yvaine’s nose twitched and she was instantly awake and hissing venomously at him.

Edward laughed as Alphonse jumped and fell backwards at the cat’s reaction. Yvaine had had the same reaction to Nina and Sheska, so Edward was confident that she just hated everyone. His cat was simultaneously the best and the worst.

“What did you do to that cat!?” Alphonse asked incredulously, staring at Yvaine as she clawed her way up to Edward’s shoulder. Edward was now fairly sure it was her way of both showing ownership over him and feeling tall. Strangely enough, he was completely fine with it.

Instead of responding, Edward smirked as Alphonse scowled at him.

“You guys are being loud!” Nina suddenly complained from her spot between Havoc and Hawkeye, tearing her eyes away from the TV to glare at them. She had moved over to the couch closest to the TV so she could pet Black Hayate while watching Top Chef, and judging by her glare, she had been really into it.

“Sorry Nina.” Edward and Alphonse chorused. Edward watched amused, as Nina turned back to her show.

Edward wondered what made her love reality cooking shows over cartoons, but said nothing on the matter. It wasn’t like his interests were any less unorthodox, and besides if she grew up to be a famous chef, it would be a good story to sell to the press.

* * *

 

Havoc had started a betting pool.

It all began when everyone got really into Top Chef, and Mustang had accurately predicted a chef’s dish going up in flames.

Edward of course couldn’t let Mustang’s ego swell, so he predicted that one of the chef’s fish would be undercooked and fall apart as a result. After being proven right, it had turned into a vicious contest between him and Mustang, of who could guess the most kitchen accidents.

Naturally, Havoc had used their contest as an excuse to start a bet.

Edward and Mustang were currently neck to neck in their predictions. Neither of them had gotten anything wrong so far, and judging by his incredulous looks, Edward was positive that Havoc now thought that the two of them were witches.

Hawkeye however, seemed very annoyed that they were competing so competitively, and expressed it through what looked like much practiced eye rolls.

Edward knew he was being an asshole, but it was for a good cause. Mustang however, was being an asshole just for the sake of it. If Edward hadn’t had his eyes glued to the TV, he would’ve glared at Mustang, who was predicting every accident like he was a sports announcer.

“Ooooh, looks like this rookie chef has made a miscalculation and set the heat too high, this is a mistake that could cost her, her entire dish. There’s no way that steak is going to make it out of the pan unscathed.” Mustang announced gleefully, covering his nose and disguising his voice.

Edward took a leaf out of Hawkeye’s book and rolled his eyes. Mustang was having way too much fun disguising his voice and being a little shit, which just gave Edward another reason to kick his ass in their unofficial competition.

It was getting close to the end of the cooking portion of the show, so Edward immediately searched the set for a potential accident, rather than waiting to see if Mustang’s prediction would come true. He already knew that it would, as it was obvious that Mustang’s specialty was predicting heat related accidents.

Edward spotted a potential collision almost instantly, when one of the chefs went to grab a last minute ingredient at the same of another chef. “Those two chefs are going to take each other out.” Edward said, wincing as they collided painfully a moment after.

“Ouch, that collision is going to cause the blonde to be late to her station and those vegetables are going to go up in flames as a result.” Mustang added, still disguising his voice.

Edward scowled irritably, as Mustang was proven right on his first prediction a few moments later, when flames sprouted from the pan of the chef who’d been cooking steak. He was now possibly behind, and there was only two minutes left on the clock. His scowl only deepened when the vegetables did indeed burst into flames, confirming that he was behind.

Edward watched incredulously as the blonde chef rushed back to her station, completely panicked, and the chef closest to her instructed her to use flour top put it out.

“Damn.” Edward muttered, shocked. “Either that chef hates the blonde, or is just incredibly stupid, because if the blonde actually uses flour, there’s gonna be a huge ass fire.”

Unfortunately for the blonde, she was too panicked to do anything other than listen to her fellow chef, and threw flour right over the fire. The result was instantaneous, and the small fire grew into a huge column of flames, nearly taking off the blonde’s eyebrows. If not for the fact that she was already terrified, the blonde might not have stepped back in time. Luckily, a woman manning one of the cameras rushed to the blonde’s aide with a fire extinguisher in hand.

“That was clearly sabotage.” Mustang said accusingly. “No way a chef of that caliber, would instruct someone to throw flour on a fire without knowing the consequences.” He continued angrily, as the blonde burst into tears while being escorted off the set.

Edward agreed with him for once, seeing as chef who had been next to the blonde looked far too smug for it to have been an accident. He fully expected her to be escorted off the set as well, since it was obvious to anyone watching that she was the culprit, but it soon became clear that she wouldn’t be disqualified for her sabotage.

“She’s actually going to get away with it too.” Edward growled, furious at the injustice of the situation. He looked away from the TV and at Mustang, who was still glaring at the chef, as though he wished it had been her, rather than the pan, that had caught fire.

Hughes snorted, looking completely unsurprised. “Of course she will. They’re not going to investigate what happened while there’s still time on the clock, and by the time anyone bothers to find out what really happened, it’ll just look like the blonde was trying to shift the blame.” He explained.

Edward stood up and headed towards the kitchen, too pissed to continue his competition with Mustang. He hated seeing situations like the one he’d just witnessed, as it forced him to remember that there was no such thing as ‘fair’. The blonde chef’s career was definitely going to be in danger after making a mistake like that, but the chef responsible was going to get off scot free and still had a shot at winning the stupid competition.

Edward sighed, trying to calm down. It was just a TV show after all, and it had nothing to do with him. Looking around the kitchen for a distraction, Edward eye’s finally settled on the fridge.He rubbed his shoulder absentmindedly and stared at it, contemplating if getting juice for himself meant he had to offer everyone else some to be polite, or if drinking it in the kitchen meant he was excused from being polite.

“Is your shoulder okay Fullmetal?” Mustang suddenly asked, startling Edward with his sudden appearance.

Edward looked up, confused by Mustang’s question, as his arm was just fine, when he realized he was still rubbing his shoulder. He immediately moved his hand, scratching the back of his neck instead.

“Oh no, it’s fine. Winry said it should be better within the week.” He explained, shrugging off Mustang’s concern.

Mustang frowned. “Are you sure Winry’s qualified enough to diagnose your arm? After all, you couldn’t move it just yesterday.”

Scowling, Edward dropped his hand. “Her parents were doctors and I trust her, so yes, Winry is qualified enough to diagnose my arm.” Edward retorted, angry at the slight towards Winry no matter how unintentional.

“Can you even move it?” Mustang asked incredulously, pushing the issue, despite Edward’s obvious discomfort.

Edward glared at Mustang wishing he would leave. “Of course I can move it.” He lied, unflinchingly holding Mustang’s gaze.

“Then do it.” Mustang challenged.

Edward glared at him, furious that Mustang had called his bluff, before turning his head and scoffing. “You’re seriously asking me to move my injured arm just so you can prove a point? What’s even the point of this?” he asked defensively.

Edward could see Mustang take a step forward out of the corner of his eye and turned his head back to face him. Surprisingly there was genuine concern on his face and Edward couldn’t connect this Mustang with the one who was a smug bastard about everything. This was the same person who’d saved his life yesterday, and had been worried about him when he’d nearly had a panic attack over the phone.

Edward deflated as the anger left him, and stared at Mustang as he appeared to be preparing something to say. “Fullmetal-no, Edward, if I asked you something, would you answer honestly?” Mustang asked tentatively, surprising Edward with the use of his first name.

Edward nodded slowly, wondering where exactly Mustang was going with this.

“Is your right arm a prosthetic?”

Edward jerked back as though he’d been slapped, completely caught off guard. His first impulse was to vehemently deny it, but then he remembered his promise to Mustang. “Yes.” He answered weakly, watching closely for Mustang’s reaction.

Mustang nodded, as though he’d suspected it and had only waiting for his suspicions to be confirmed. “What happened yesterday?” he asked looking him over worriedly.

Edward let out a deep breath, before running a hand down his face. He’d done his best all day to suppress everything from yesterday, but Mustang’s questioning was letting it all resurface. “The heat initially fried some of the more un-insulated wiring in my arm, which severed the connection to some of the nerves in my shoulder. Then a falling beam almost crushed Ling and Lan Fan, so I used my arm to keep it from hitting them, which severed the connection completely.” He explained, doing his best not to dwell on it.

Mustang’s face had gone pale during the first part his explanation, but now he looked furious. “You put yourself in the path of a falling beam, to save two complete strangers?!” Mustang exclaimed incredulously. “You risked your life not once, but _twice_ for people who you’d never even seen before, after already being hurt?!”

Edward stared, completely shocked by Mustang’s outburst. He’d never seen him so emotional and was confused as to why he cared so much.

“Yes, but I’m fine now, and they would’ve died had I not helped them!” Edward said, attempting to calm Mustang down.

Mustang however, just stared at him as though he’d grown a third eye. “I’m getting you self help books on loving yourself.” He said decisively, before turning around and storming out of the kitchen.

Edward glared at Mustang’s retreating back. He didn’t need any self help books, and Mustang had gotten angry for no reason.

Deciding that he’d been in the kitchen too long to successively drink juice without having to share any, Edward Left the kitchen and headed back to the living room, pretending nothing had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> since i didn't torture any characters this chapter, i'll go back to being evil next chapter. i hope you enjoyed it and again i'm sorry for how terribly late i was.


	10. Growing closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sooooo sorry that this is late! I had a bit more difficulty juggling school and writing than I'd originally thought. It probably also didn't help that I started writing another six stories along with this one, but, here's the next chapter and though it's short, I managed to save certain events for next chapter, so hopefully you all enjoy this.
> 
> also happy belated October 3rd.

Edward’s day wasn’t off to a good start. His alarm clock hadn’t gone off, he hadn’t eaten breakfast in the fear of being late, nightmares had plagued him all night, and his lunch had gotten run over by the bus he’d managed to miss. So, he was pissed off, hungry, and tired, which did not make for an enjoyable Monday. The worst part was after everything he had gone through, he still managed to arrive twenty minutes late for school.

Edward ran down the halls desperate to get to class as soon as he could. He really didn’t need to give Mr. Proctor yet another reason to hate him, and could only hope that he wasn’t forced to wait outside all period.

He skidded around a corner, narrowly avoiding a collision with the administrator who patrolled the hallways in between classes. She looked entirely unimpressed by his immediate stop, but before she could open her mouth to lecture him about the rules about running in the hallway, Edward darted off again.

It seemed as though he caught his first lucky break; since the administrator did nothing to stop him, but his luck quickly ran out when he threw open the door to his classroom. Mr. Proctor looked as though he’d been in the middle of a lecture before being interrupted, so the possibility of Edward sneaking into the class unnoticed was completely gone, since his entrance was witnessed by the entire class.

“Mr. Elric, care to explain why you’re over twenty minutes late for my class?” Mr. Proctor asked snidely after a few moments of silence. “Or do you just think that school is optional for you?” He continued, when Edward didn’t immediately reply.

Edward bristled inwardly at Mr. Proctor’s jibe, but let nothing show on his face, save for a stony expression. He was injured enough that any decent teacher would’ve excused his tardiness, but of course Mr. Proctor took his tardiness as a personal insult.

“Sorry sir, I was injured over the weekend, so getting ready this morning was difficult.” Edward apologized; all the while wishing that mouthing off to Mr. Proctor wouldn’t end badly for him.

Mr. Proctor nodded, the twisted expression on his face making him look constipated. “I see, so you’re only ever on time when it’s convenient for you.” He stated, turning away from Edward and scribbling something on his desk.

Edward had to physically restrain himself from asking Mr. Proctor how exactly he’d managed to get a job as a teacher with the level of stupidity he possessed. He honestly wasn’t sure how Mr. Proctor could interpret an injury as an inconvenience, rather than the source of his tardiness, but he did know that he was seconds away from doing something that would definitely get him suspended.

Mr. Proctor finally turned back to face him with a pink slip in his hand, and Edward raised an eyebrow incredulously. Was he seriously getting detention for being late to class one time?

“Since you have been nothing but a disruption to my class all year, I’m transferring you out. Take this slip to room 203, and don’t come back.” Mr. Proctor said dismissively, handing Edward the slip and then turning back to teach as though nothing had happened.

Edward stared at him for a few moments, completely shocked and outraged. If getting detention for being late to class one time was unfair, then getting transferred out for the same reason was an act of war.

It was only the sight of Sheska flipping Mr. Proctor off under her desk that kept Edward from calling the asshole out on his bullshit. She gave Edward a sympathetic look, and Edward rolled his eyes in return to show his annoyance at the whole situation. On the bright side, he wouldn’t have to put up with Mr. Proctor any more, and there was no class that could possibly be worse than this one.

So with a smile that he was careful to keep hidden, Edward turned around and stormed out of the classroom, slamming the door just to spite Mr. Proctor. It was incredibly satisfying to hear a loud crash, presumably from equipment falling off the shelves.

* * *

 

It turned out that room 203 was the home economics class. Edward had found that out that piece of information by walking into the room and being confronted by utter chaos. There were pairs of students working at almost every stove, most of which were engulfed by smoke, there was a familiar looking girl with curly black hair modeling on a chair for a group of what looked like art students, and there was a fight going on at one of the sewing machines between two students over the proper use of lace. To top it all off, the teacher was nowhere in sight.

The worst part of the chaos he was greeted with however was that after standing there in shock for a few moments, he recognized Mustang as one of the art students.

Neither of them had done anything yesterday to acknowledge the fight they’d had, but the tension had still been there yesterday. It was the simple things that had set them on edge, like Mustang staring at his right arm for a second too long to be normal, or Edward dodging questions he’d rather not answer, and Edward was positive that it was obvious to everyone that something had happened between them.

“Do you need something?” a kind voice suddenly asked, jolting Edward out of his thoughts and forcing him to pull his gaze away from Mustang. Edward turned to face the source the voice, and saw that it was one of the students who’d been arguing about lace at the sewing machine. She was a bit taller than him and her long bangs were a startling shade of pink, but the kindness in her voice was reflected on her face so Edward was almost instantly put at ease.

“Do you know where the teacher is? Apparently I’ve been transferred to this class and I figured it’s only polite to inform them.” He replied, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, careful to keep hold of the slip while doing so.

The girl threw her head back and started laughing, and Edward felt his face grow hot as he wondered what exactly he’d said to make her laugh.

“I am the teacher.” She finally admitted after she had stopped laughing enough to speak. “My name is Miss Thomas, but all my students call me Rosé, and quite frankly I prefer it that way.”

Edward nodded, doing his best to ignore his embarrassment over confusing her with a student. “Sorry bout that Miss Thom-Rosé.” He apologized, stumbling slightly over her name. He figured that it would be best to get on her good side since he’d been sent to her class as a punishment, so using the name she preferred was a good way to start.

“It’s no problem; I’m a student teacher actually so I get mistaken as a student quite a lot. Did you have a hole in your schedule that needed filling?” she asked curiously, reaching for the slip of paper he held in his hand.

Edward shook his head, and handed over the paper, figuring that letting her read it for herself would be better than explaining what had happened. It wasn’t like he’d be believed over a teacher anyway, no matter how nice Rosé seemed.

Rosé’s brow furrowed as she read the slip, and the kind expression on her face grew murderous as she reached the bottom. She didn’t spare Edward a single glance as she turned and stormed over to the telephone mounted on the wall.

Edward winced at every button she furiously pounded, and began weighing his options. He could run away to safety and be killed by Izumi later on when she found out that he cut class, or he could stay and be murdered by the surprisingly terrifying student teacher. Unfortunately, whoever Rosé was calling picked up the phone before Edward could make his decision, so he was effectively trapped. He wondered how people would react to finding “Death by student teacher” on his gravestone.

“Gerald Proctor!” Rosé exclaimed angrily into the phone, abruptly pulling Edward out of planning his funeral. “My class is not a place to send children as a punishment! I don’t know what exactly gave you and every other teacher in this school that idea, but I’m not going to stand for it any longer! This is the last student I’m accepting, after this my class is full!”

There was a pause, presumably as Mr. Proctor replied, before Rosé continued her tirade. “I don’t care that legally my class is not full, I am a student teacher, so what makes you think that I’ll be able to deal with the children no other teacher can put up with!?”

There was another pause, only this time Rosé looked slightly more mollified. The other students in the class however, were anything but, all looking as though they were seconds away from bursting into laughter.

Edward was glad the Rosé wasn’t going to murder him and was quite enjoying watching Mr. Proctor get chewed out, but Mustang was looking directly at him with an unreadable expression, so his relief was short lived.

There was a sudden slam, and Edward jerked around to see Rosé glaring at the phone as it dangled by its cord inches off the floor. Clearly the end of the conversation had not gone well, and Edward was back to being scared for his life.

“So,” Rosé said conversationally, after walking back over to him with a smile. “What’re you in for?”

* * *

 

It took a while for Rosé to fill out the paperwork to officially transfer Edward into the class, but once it was done she turned to face him with a mock stern look on her face.

“Now that you’re one of my students, there are some rules you need to follow.” She began, and Edward had to wonder what kind of rules she had, that allowed her class to be consumed in chaos.

“First,” she continued. “Everyone in my class has a partner. You will be expected to turn in one project every week, and the only requirement is that it’s collaboration between you and your partner. Luckily for you, I had an odd number of students in my class before you arrived, so you won’t be partnered up with me every week.” She said cheerfully.

Edward nodded, thinking it was a rather simple rule. He’d likely be partnered up with the kid at the sewing machine, but as he wasn’t too bad at sewing he had no problem with it. As long as the kid wasn’t an asshole, they could complete the projects with little difficulty.

“Okay then, that’s pretty much the only rule.” She finished with a smile, and Edward rather thought that explained the chaos.

“Who’s my partner?” he asked, wanting to get the name of the guy at the sewing machine before he went over there.

Rosé turned away from Edward and faced the group of art students. “Roy.” she said pointing straight at Mustang. “He’s the only one who doesn’t have a partner right now, but I warn you, he’s fairly difficult to work with.” She explained.

Edward barely held back a groan at that news. Of course he would wind up with Mustang as his partner; his luck was honestly just that bad. “What about the guy at the sewing machine?” he asked, hoping he could somehow get out of being partners with Mustang. “Does he have a partner?”

Rosé shook her head, looking exasperated. “His partner is absent today, so I was working with him since trying to help Roy with anything is like trying to bathe a cat.” She replied. “You can of course talk to people and try to switch partners, but I’m afraid no one is overly eager to work with Roy.” She  continued quickly, likely seeing the dismayed expression on his face. 

Edward frowned. He knew all too well that Mustang could be an asshole, but he got along great with his friends and worked well with his teammates, so Edward wasn’t sure why he had trouble finding a partner. 

“Why don’t people want to work with him?” Edward asked unable to contain his curiosity. 

“I’m pretty sure he makes sure people don’t want to work with him just so he doesn’t have to sacrifice what he calls his “artistic vision”.” Rosé replied using air quotes around the last part. 

Edward nodded, completely understanding now why no one wanted to work with him. Mustang played the part of the pretentious asshole quite convincingly. 

Edward knew that there was no way in hell that he was going to be able to switch partners, but he could use this as an opportunity to make Mustang drop the act. At the very least he knew what to expect, and Edward highly doubted that Mustang was willing to sacrifice his grade by refusing to work with him, so all he had to do was put up with his bullshit. 

Suddenly, the kid at the sewing machine called for Rosé so Edward was left to his own devices after she raced over to the kid’s side without a backwards glance. 

Figuring that prolonging the inevitable wasn’t going to do any good, Edward put on a fake air of confidence and walked over to Mustang’s side. 

Mustang was focusing intently on a sketch he was drawing, and didn’t look up when Edward reached him. Edward peered over his shoulder to get a good look at what he was drawing, when Mustang suddenly snapped his sketchbook shut. 

“Can I help you?” he asked irritably, before looking up. 

Edward almost burst into laughter at the shocked expression on Mustang’s face when he realized who he was talking to. 

“I don’t think so, since you’re part of my problem, but you’re more than welcome to try.” Edward replied, plopping down into the empty seat next to Mustang. 

Mustang frowned, looking incredibly irritated, before sighing in exasperation. “Why are you here Fullmetal?” he asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose as though he was getting a headache. 

Edward would’ve said something snarky just to piss him off, but Mustang looked like a mess. There were dark circles under his eyes as though he hadn’t gotten any sleep last night, and his hair hung limply instead of the casually messy style it was usually in. 

“I’m your partner now.” he replied simply, deciding to take it easy on him for now. 

Mustang however, looked as though he’d been told he’d have to perform brain surgery blindfolded. Edward studied him for a few seconds, before making a decision. It looked like Mustang was having a worse day than he was, not to mention the fact that Edward was incredibly hungry, so making breakfast seemed like the best possible solution. 

“Stand up.” He instructed Mustang, after doing so himself. 

Mustang looked at Edward as though he’d grown a third eye, but did as he was told, tucking his sketchbook under his arm as though it was too valuable to be left unattended. 

Edward was glad that Mustang hadn’t decided to be a stubborn asshole, and gave him a small smile, hoping to make him look less like he’d been told he was on death row. 

Mustang opened his mouth, likely to question what exactly Edward was doing, but Edward turned and marched over to the unattended stove before he could say anything. He could hear Mustang sigh before following him and counted it as a victory. 

There were cupboards right beside the stove, so Edward opened them and began rifling through them. He didn’t see any instant pancake mix, but he saw enough ingredients to make pancakes from scratch, which shouldn’t take too long. 

“What are you doing Fullmetal?” Mustang asked from behind him, as Edward began pulling out the ingredients one by one. 

Edward turned around and raised his eyebrows. “You look like shit, and I didn’t eat breakfast today, so I’m making pancakes.” He explained, before turning back around to grab the necessary dishes. 

“You’re one to talk.” Mustang replied as Edward grabbed a frying pan. 

Edward didn’t bother saying anything in return. At least he had an excuse for his disheveled appearance. 

Mustang sighed again. “Come here Fullmetal.” He instructed. 

Edward considered ignoring him, but in the end did as he was told, turning around and walking over to Mustang. It wasn’t fair after all to boss Mustang around and expect him to listen if he didn’t at least allow him the same courtesy. 

Mustang set his sketchbook down on the counter beside him before grabbing his shoulders firmly, and turning him around. Edward turned his head to look over his shoulder and see what Mustang was doing, but Mustang turned his head back to face the front. 

“Stay still, if I don’t fix your hair you’re going to get it in the pancakes.” He ordered, gently pulling the rubber band out of Edward’s messy side ponytail. 

“I can do that myself.” Edward grumbled, but stood perfectly still while Mustang used his fingers to carefully comb through his hair. 

He wondered why Mustang actually seemed to be putting effort into it instead of just throwing it up so it was out of the way. He was even more surprised when he felt Mustang separate it into three parts and start braiding his hair into his usual style. 

He would deny it to the death, but having Mustang braid his hair felt really nice. Not once was his hair pulled painfully tight, and Mustang seemed to know what he was doing. Edward felt his face heat up, embarrassed not only that Mustang was doing his hair, but also that he was enjoying it. He tried desperately to convince himself that he was not disappointed in the slightest when Mustang finally tied it off the braid with the rubber band. 

“There, now you won’t get hair in the pancakes, though I am a little skeptical of them actually tasting good when you’ve only got one arm to work with.” Mustang said teasingly, no trace of anger or irritation in his voice. 

Edward pushed down his embarrassment and frowned, not having considered how exactly he would make the pancakes, before he turned around and gave Mustang a considering look. “How well is your cooking?”

* * *

 

It turned out that Mustang was fantastic at cooking.

Edward had honestly expected that the pancakes would wind up in flames with the two of them cooking together, and yet it turned out they made not only a great team, but the best pancakes he’d ever tasted.

“You know,” Edward said around a mouthful of pancakes. “I would marry you solely for these pancakes if not for the fact that you act like a smug asshole like ninety-five percent of the time.”

Mustang choked on his bite of pancake at Edward’s comment, much to his delight, but before Edward got a chance to enjoy getting a reaction out of Mustang, he heard someone burst into laughter just behind him.

Edward immediately turned around and saw the girl who had been modeling for the art students when he’d first walked in doubled over with laughter, looking incredibly amused.

Edward felt his face heat up as he realized that she was laughing at him, and quickly turned around to shovel more pancakes into his mouth. If he couldn’t speak, then he couldn’t embarrass himself any further.

“You must be Edward.” The girl said after she’d managed to stop laughing and had pulled up a chair to sit with them.

Edward didn’t know whether he should be flattered or offended that she recognized him solely from that comment.

He wondered if he should know her, but despite her looking familiar, he just couldn’t place her.

“I’m Rebecca.” She continued as Edward struggled to swallow. “Riza’s been meaning to introduce us, but I haven’t been able to make it so far.”

Edward finally managed to swallow after a rather painful gulp, and smiled weakly at her. “Oh?” Was all he managed to force out, before he reached up to massage his throat. On one hand he was relieved to know he hadn’t met her before, but on the other hand he was stuck wondering why she looked so familiar.

“Yeah, but I’ve heard more about you from Roy. So are you also and art model?” she asked him curiously.

“Er no?” he replied uncertainly, confused as to why she thought he was an art model.

“Aren’t you supposed to be modeling yourself?” Mustang suddenly asked irritably, before Rebecca could start talking again, clearly having recovered from his coughing fit.

Rebecca waved her hand dismissively in reply. “I’m on a break, modeling is hard work.” She explained, only to have Mustang scoff disbelievingly.

She narrowed her eyes, and jabbed him contemptuously in the chest. “Don’t think I didn’t see you braiding Ed’s hair earlier! I’m sure Maes would pay good money for the pictures I managed to snag.” She threatened, and Edward suddenly felt his face grow hot.

Those pictures could not under any circumstances be given to Hughes.

“Modeling looks incredibly tough, and from what I saw you’re a real pro at it.” Edward said quickly, hoping to mollify her. “Isn’t that right, Mustang?” he asked desperately.

Mustang nodded, apparently on the same brainwave as him, and Rebecca burst into laughter again.

“Oh, I’ve hit the jackpot!” she said gleefully, and Edward was suddenly very terrified of the power she had over them.

“Rebecca!” someone called impatiently from across the room, causing Rebecca to groan. “Sorry boys, break’s over.” she said apologetically, before standing up and walking back over to the group of art students.

Mustang sighed in relief once she was out of earshot, before smirking at Edward. “So, I’m thinking irises for the wedding, your thoughts?” He asked teasingly, going as far as grabbing a pen, and reminding Edward why exactly he considered Mustang a pretentious asshole.


	11. Optimism is for the Naïve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this is so very late, but here it is, chapter eleven. I'm just going to apologize in advance and leave this here for you guys to enjoy.
> 
> *Edit; for some reason Ao3 is making it so one of my sections does not have any spacing in between the paragraphs, no matter how many times I edit it. I'm doing my best to fix it, but I'm not having any luck so far

**Time skip; 4 days**

Edward had overdone it. To be fair, he’d been dead set on following Winry’s advice and taking it easy, but with his recent bout of nightmares making him late for school every day that week, and Nina’s dad coming home from work later and later, taking it easy took a backseat.

Winry had been the first one to intervene, and though Edward had a feeling that Al put her up to it, she was the one who had threatened to detach his leg if he didn’t stay home from school and let her fix him up. Luckily for Edward, his quick agreement meant that she didn’t remove his leg, though he hadn’t quite managed to get out of being dragged over to her house.

Which meant Edward was currently sitting on Winry’s sofa, while she worked over in a corner that made up her workshop. He knew better than to needlessly interrupt her, as the last time he’d done that, she’d literally thrown him out of her room, where she’d been working at the time.

Luckily he had his evil kitten to keep him company, though she currently held very little interest in him. Edward had had Winry make Yvaine a prosthetic, and while it was nowhere near as intricate as the one she’d made for her dog, Den, it got his cat from place to place more than adequately. Unfortunately for Edward, that meant that Yvaine no longer found his presence all that exciting, as she could now explore unhindered, and had long since left his side.

Yvaine hadn’t gone too far from his side despite her new leg, but Edward had a feeling that was more to do with the fact that she was still learning how to walk and could only totter so far. Edward kept an eye on her of course, making sure she didn’t get hurt, but that could only hold his attention for so long before he was back to wishing he could talk to Winry.

Then again, she had been hunched over that table for hours, which couldn’t be comfortable. Edward knew she had some time left before she was really overdoing it, but he figured a break would do her back and neck some good. Not to mention, now was the perfect time to make good on his promise to Sheska, and find out for sure if Winry liked her.

“Oi, Winry.” He said loudly, breaking the silence and catching her attention.

Winry looked up and removed her magnifying goggles, revealing a completely unamused expression. “What?” she asked irritably, practically shooting sparks in his direction.

Edward gulped nervously, but didn’t shrink back from her gaze. If he didn’t say something now, then the opportunity to dig for information would be lost, and he would be bored again. “As skilled as you are at making prosthetics, I don’t think you’ll be able to make a bionic spine, which is what you’re going to need if you don’t take a break.” He replied, with confidence he did not have.

Winry stared at him for a few moments, before shaking her head in exasperation. “Geez Ed, do you have to be so weird about showing that you’re worried?” she asked rhetorically.

Edward scowled, but couldn’t hold it in place when he saw Winry actually listen to him and get up out of the chair. She stretched, and Edward winced as he heard the painful sounding cracks from across the room. He should’ve told her to get up sooner.

Winry walked over to where he was sitting on the couch and plopped down beside him.

Edward wrinkled his nose in mock disgust. “You reek.” He said teasingly as she put her hair up in a quick ponytail.

Winry snorted disbelievingly. “Please. I smell like your prosthetics, which you wear almost 24/7, so I doubt you can actually tell what I smell like anymore” she replied.

Edward scoffed, but said nothing to refute her claim, since it was mostly true.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, as Edward kept an eye on Yvaine, and Winry worked the kinks out of her neck. After a few minutes of silence, the urge to get information became almost overwhelming, so Edward decided to indulge his curiosity.

“Winry?” He asked, looking away from his cat, and instead at Winry, who had her head bent at a strange angle as she stretched.

Winry paused mid stretch and raised an eyebrow. “What?” she asked, straightening out her neck.

Edward hesitated for a second, trying to get information in a way that wouldn’t incriminate Sheska, before settling on the indirect method. “Well, I have this friend who likes someone, but uh, they’re not sure if their crush likes them back. So I was wondering if you could tell me-”

“Your friend?” Winry suddenly interrupted before Edward could even finish his question, sounding highly amused. “You’re seriously gonna go with the whole ‘Friend’ Shtick?” she continued, leaving Edward feeling incredibly confused.

“What do you mean, ‘Friend’ Shtick?” Edward asked suspiciously, not at all liking the smirk on Winry’s face. After all, that smirk normally meant nothing but trouble for him. He was really hoping that she hadn’t somehow found out he was talking about Sheska.

Winry suddenly smiled in a way that seemed all too innocent, even going as far as tilting her head to the side. “So you’re not trying to find out if Roy Mustang likes you under the pretext of helping a friend?” she asked saccharinely.

Had Edward been drinking something, he was sure it would’ve left his mouth in an impressive spit take. As it was, all Edward could do was gape at Winry, and wonder if she had lost her mind. He and Mustang tolerated each other at the most, and even then there were still moments of animosity. Sure in the past four days, they’d gotten along a whole lot better than they had before, and there may have been a repeat or two of the whole hair braiding process, but to call their current relationship anything more than a tenuous friendship, was inconceivable.

“No, I was not trying to find out if Mustang likes me! How the hell did you jump to that conclusion?!” he exclaimed incredulously, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment.

Winry smirked victoriously, as though his denial of her accusation was confirmation for something. “Alright alright, I’ll help your ‘friend’.” she said, putting air quotes around the word friend, and pissing Edward off.

Edward glared at her. The fact she didn’t believe him was highly irritating, but letting her believe he was talking about himself meant she didn’t suspect Sheska. He was just going to have to deal with it, even if she thought that he liked Mustang of all people. Sheska so owed him for this.

“First,” Winry said, breaking him out of his thoughts of how best to make Sheska pay for the information he was gathering. “When you like someone, you tend to want to always be next to them, so being physically close to someone is usually a huge tip off.”

Edward nodded thoughtfully at that. Winry and Sheska were always together, whether it was sitting down to eat, or watching a movie over at his house. That could definitely be a sign that pointed towards Winry liking Sheska, but then if he based feelings solely on proximity, pretty much everyone had feelings for someone.

“What else is there?” Edward asked curiously, needing more information before he could draw any conclusions. Winry looked thoughtful, as though she’d expected that piece of information to be enough and was now trying to think up more. “Well, you can also tell a lot about someone’s feelings for a person by eyecontact. When you like someone, you tend to like looking at them, but if you get caught, you’re going to look away as fast as you can.” She explained, a faint blush crawling up her cheeks.

Edward eyed Winry suspiciously. It sounded as though she was speaking from personal experience, and the blush was definitely incriminating. “Is that why you’re always staring at Sheska?” He asked innocently, copying her from earlier in the hope that she would either answer truthfully or be surprised into reacting.

His hope for the latter came true, as Winry’s face turned a vivid shade of pink, and she made a noise that sounded like a horse choking.

Edward couldn’t contain his laughter at her reaction, but soon regretted it when he was suddenly tackled off the couch and onto the floor. He let out a pained grunt as his back flared up from its sudden introduction to the carpet, and glared at Winry who had landed on top of him. Somehow, he had forgotten her violent tendencies when she was embarrassed.

“You can’t tell her!” Winry growled desperately at him, before pushing herself up and effectively pinning him.

“That’s no reason to tackle me!” Edward exclaimed back at her, attempting to wiggle out of the tight grip she held him in. Unfortunately, he had only one arm to work with, so it was hardly effective. Well, that and the fact that Winry was freakishly strong. Stupid, machine geek.

Winry continued to glare at him. “You have to promise not to say anything, Edward!” she insisted, sounding slightly panicked, and Edward couldn’t help but agree to her demand.

“Fine.” He relented with a sigh, rolling his eyes at how over dramatic she was being. “But I want you to know that you’re being incredibly stupid, and you’re not cute at all, you violent she-devil.”

Winry freed his arm after he had agreed, but made no move to get up off him. “I’m not being stupid! We’re both friends, and this could jeopardize that. I can’t lose her friendship, and besides, it would change the dynamics of our friend group.” She rambled, sounding more and more panicked the longer she spoke.

Edward couldn’t help but think it sounded a bit rehearsed, like she’d been using those same reasons as an excuse not to make a move on Sheska for a while now.

“Look, even if she didn’t already like you, do you really think Sheska is the type of person to stop being friends with you just because she knew you liked her?” Edward asked, attempting to get her to calm down and see reason.

It was only when he saw Winry’s look of complete shock, that he realized what he had just said. Sheska was going to kill him for letting that slip.

“What did you just say?” Winry demanded, looking as though she were seconds away from having a heart attack, and Edward couldn’t help but panic.

“That Sheska isn’t the type of person to stop being friends with you if she found out you liked her?” Edward tried, hoping that against all odds, she wouldn’t ask again.

“Before. that.” She growled, dashing his unrealistic hopes.

“That you're a violent she-devil and not cute at all.” Edward answered more confidently. There was no way he was going to let it slip that Sheska liked her a second time.

“Edward, if you don't tell me right now, I'm slipping milk into everything you eat!” Winry threatened, and Edward didn't bother hiding his shudder of disgust. That was just plain wrong.

Edward opened his mouth to tell her just how low of a blow that was, when the doorbell suddenly rang.

They both startled at the sound, and turned to look at the door for a second, before Winry turned back to glare at him.

“Don't you dare-” she began, but Edward didn't let her finish.

“Come in!” He called in a sing-song voice, ignoring Winry’s string of mumbled threats and welcoming the interruption. Anything that prevented Winry from blackmailing him, was a sight for sore eyes.

The door swung open, and Edward immediately took that last part back. He’d rather have Winry blackmailing him, than see Mustang of all people standing in the doorway.

Mustang stared at them for a few moments before taking a step back. “Is now a bad time?” he asked, an unreadable expression on his face.

Edward felt his face heat up as he realized how compromising his and Winry’s position must’ve looked. “No, now’s not a bad time, Winry is just attempting to blackmail me for information. If you come back later however, you are likely to witness my brutal murder, which would be a bad time, but mostly for me.” Edward explained, resolutely ignoring Winry’s snort of amusement.

Mustang raised an eyebrow before shaking his head and sighing in exasperation. “Only you, Fullmetal.” he said, before stepping further inside.

Edward frowned, unsure as to whether he should be flattered or offended, only to grunt in pain as Winry suddenly got off of him. At this rate “taking it easy” with Winry would kill him faster than overworking himself.

“So what’re you doing here, Roy?” Winry asked, dusting herself off while Edward made no move to stand up. He was going to stay on the floor until he was sure it was safe. That or until Yvaine attempted to eat his hair again, whichever came first.

“I came to drop off Fullmetal’s homework.” Mustang replied, holding up a stack of paper, and walking over to where he was laying on the floor. “Alphonse told me you’d be here. Tell me, does he know exactly what goes on in this house?”

Edward tilted his head back so he could fully see Mustang, and saw that he was smirking. That smug bastard, Edward knew he was never going to let that drop without incentive.

“Didn’t Hawkeye put you in this very same position last Sunday for doing something stupid?” He asked, returning Mustang’s smirk. Score one for Edward.

Winry snorted loudly, pulling Edward’s attention away from Mustang. “If you boys are done flirting, Ed I believe you promised Al that you’d take Nina off his hands after he picked up her for you.” she reminded him.

Edward glared at Winry, and pulled himself up into a seated position. “It’s no wonder you haven’t made a move on Sheska yet, if you think that was flirting.” He retorted, ignoring her reminder and instead focusing on her accusation.

Rather than immediately murdering him for throwing her under the bus, Winry grinned evilly. “And just what would you know about making a move?” She challenged, a threatening aura emanating from her.

Edward shuddered in fear, but refused to back down, opening his mouth to counter with a reminder of her own lack of experience, only for Mustang to speak before he could.

“I’d assume he knows quite a bit, seeing as he proposed to me, though it was in a rather unconventional way.” He cut in, grinning playfully.

Winry froze for a second, looking incredulous, before bursting into laughter, and Edward immediately rounded on Mustang.

“I did not propose to you, dumbass! I said I’d marry you for your pancakes if you didn’t act like such a pretentious asshole!” Edward exclaimed hotly, feeling betrayed by the fact that both Mustang and Winry seemed to be against him.

Mustang affected a self depreciating smile, which Edward knew was falser than Al’s promise not to adopt any more cats. “Yes, I believe that’s the part that’s rather unconventional, and I can’t say it doesn’t sting that you prefer my pancakes over my personality.”

Winry was practically howling with laughter at this point, and Edward had had enough of the both of them. With as much dignity as he could muster, Edward stood up, picked up Yvaine who had wandered over to his side, and headed for the door. Nina at least wouldn't mock him mercilessly.

* * *

Mustang had unfortunately followed Edward after he’d stormed out of Winry’s house, and Alphonse, despite Edward’s protest, had immediately invited him in. He should've known his brother would one day betray him, it was always the quiet ones. 

Currently, they were sitting on his couch in the living room with Nina, watching a movie that involved ridiculously long hair and a lizard. Mustang was struggling under a mountain of papers, because, as it turned out, the huge stack of homework he’d brought over for Edward was almost entirely his. Edward couldn’t help but feel slightly vindicated, listening to Mustang complain, while he only had to finish a few worksheets and keep an eye on Nina. 

“Do you think I could get away setting this on fire?” Mustang asked, for what seemed like the seventh time since he’d started working. 

Edward firmly told himself that he did not find Mustang’s hatred of homework endearing. “Far more convincing to have a dog eat it, after all, a hungry canine is much easier to explain than a freak fire that consumed your homework the weekend before it was due.” He replied. 

“Yeah!” Nina suddenly piped up. “Alexander could help! He eats everything!” she exclaimed happily, and Edward decided that it was safer not to ask how she knew that. Plausible deniability was a magical thing. 

Mustang looked for a moment as though he was seriously contemplating it, before he sighed forlornly. “Sorry Nina, but I'm afraid the dog excuse is too overused to be accepted by any teacher.” He apologized, looking rather put out. 

Nina nodded, equally as solem, before turning back to her movie, and Edward was left to wonder how this had become his life. He should’ve known that Nina wasn’t the only one he’d have to babysit, especially since Mustang had never given off the impression that he was mature. 

All he could do was be thankful that he wouldn't have to prevent possibly poisoning Nina's dog, after all, the two were nearly inseparable. 

Nina suddenly tugged on his hand, pulling him out of his thoughts, and pointed to the television. “Look, look, it’s you!” She said excitedly, and Edward looked to where she was pointing to, only to see a girl with dangerously long hair wielding a frying pan. 

“Oh, uhhm…thanks?” Edward replied, unsure of how else to reply. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but he really didn’t see how she thought he was in her movie. 

Mustang started snickering beside him, and Edward had to resist the urge to flip him off. 

“Calm down, Fullmetal, it’s just a thing that kids do. They like to compare themselves and others to the characters in their shows and movies.” Mustang explained in a whisper, before raising his voice. “So which character are you, Nina?” He asked, abandoning his homework in favor of watching her movie, and Edward couldn’t help but grin at the way Nina’s face lit up. 

“Maximus!” She proclaimed proudly, pointing to the television again. 

Edward instantly followed her finger, and saw a horse of all things. Not just any horse though, this one seemed to think it was a bloodhound. Only Nina would pick something so strange to aspire to, but at least it wasn’t the shifty looking lizard. At this point he wouldn’t be surprised if the lizard turned out to be the antagonist, considering how weird the movie was. 

“Betcha anything the lizard is the villain.” Edward said, voicing his suspicions after a few more minutes of watching the movie. 

Mustang looked away from the movie and shot him a mock disgusted look. “Have you even been watching this movie? The villain is clearly the mother! It was stated outright in the beginning!” Mustang exclaimed, his tone an even mix of incredulity and condescension. 

Edward scowled. “No I haven't been watching the movie, I've been busy doing my homework, like a responsible student.” He scoffed, shooting a pointed look at Mustang's discarded pile of unfinished assignments. 

“And I've been spending quality time with Nina, so who's the real winner here?” Mustang shot back, unconcerned with Edward's thinly veiled accusation. 

“Well, if the basis for winning here is time spent with Nina , then Edward would be the “real winner” as you so elegantly put it” Alphonse suddenly interjected from behind the couch. 

Edward immediately whirled around and saw his brother standing in the doorway with an amused smirk on his face. Without a second’s hesitation, he pulled himself over the back of the couch and joined him, needing the comfort Alphonse’s presence brought him. Ever since the incident at the mall last Saturday, Alphonse had made a guest appearance in many of his nightmares, the most frequent one being where he never made it out of the mall before it collapsed. Edward practically glued himself to Alphonse’s side as a result, in an attempt to reassure himself that his brother was very much alive. Unfortunately it didn’t do much to quell the nightmares, and Alphonse had begun to notice his newfound clinginess. 

“See, Alphonse is on my side, so it’s two against one.” Edward said pettily, sticking his tongue out at Mustang. 

Mustang stuck his tongue out in return, acting equally as childish. It had become a sort of ritual between the two of them, acting as childishly as possible when Alphonse was around. Edward wasn’t sure why exactly they did it, but it both amused and exasperated his brother, so there was no way he was going to stop. 

“You can’t just win an argument because Alphonse is on your side, we need an impartial third party!” Mustang countered petulantly. 

“Enough you two. I actually came here to ask If Roy was going to stay for dinner.” Alphonse intervened, amusement coloring his tone. “Izumi is cooking steak, and wanted a headcount.” He continued, sounding slightly disheartened by the last part, and Edward knew why. Alphonse had recently turned to vegetarianism due to the maltreatment of animals in the meat industry, and thus had to forage for himself most nights since Izumi and Sig ran a butcher shop together. 

“Sure, I’d love to, let me just call my aunt to let her know.” Mustang replied, standing up and leaving the room, pulling out his phone as he did so. 

“So, are Sheska and Winry coming?” Edward asked, breaking the silence that had followed Mustang’s agreement. He hadn’t seen Sheska since he’d gotten home, which was strange considering she practically lived at their house. 

“Yeah, I just called Sheska and she said that she stayed at the library after school, and would be over right after she stopped to grab Winry.” Alphonse answered, satisfying Edward’s curiosity. 

Edward shook his head slightly at the news. Of course the only two things that would keep Sheska away from their house would be books and Winry, though not necessarily in that order. 

Suddenly Edward got a perfectly evil idea. He couldn’t tell Sheska that Winry liked her, and if he let it slip again that Sheska liked Winry, then he could say goodbye to any semblance of peace in his life, however, he could convince Sheska to make a move. Winry definitely wasn’t going to initiate anything, but Sheska, she was a bit more open to the idea. 

“Hey Al, wanna help me with something?” 

* * *

Dinner was beginning to look like it was going to be extremely hectic. Tucker had called Edward and had asked him if Nina could stay the night, since he wouldn’t be home until Saturday morning, and Sheska and Winry had announced that they would stay the night as well to keep Nina company. May seemed to have become a permanent fixture in their house and was most definitely coming to dinner, and Mustang had decided that he was going to make Yvaine like him. Strangely enough, Edward was looking forward to this dinner. He was used to having guests over, but there was never this atmosphere of pure enjoyment and it was making him giddy. Of course, there was also the fact that he got to watch Yvaine hiss and swipe at Mustang, while he continued to coo at her, but either way, Edward was in a fantastic mood. “Would you give it a rest already? She’s never going to like you.” Edward said amusedly, watching Mustang receive yet another swipe to the face. It really looked to Edward as though he’d make good on his promise to befriend Yvaine or die trying. “Why does she like you so much?!” Mustang demanded, as he attempted to coax her out from under the armchair. “Because I’m a kind and nurturing person.” Edward retorted. Mustang snorted disbelievingly, and gave Edward a deadpan look. “Please, the depths of space are more nurturing than you are.” He quipped. Edward scowled at Mustang’s insult. “I own a cat and babysit both Nina and her dog. What exactly do you do that qualifies you to judge how nurturing I am?” He asked skeptically. “Maes Hughes is my best friend.” Mustang replied, raising an eyebrow, as though daring Edward to dispute it. Mustang really had him there, luckily Yvaine suddenly decided to conduct revenge on Mustang while he was distracted, by biting his ear. His yelp of pain only added to Edward's amusement at the situation. “This is why I'm a dog person.” Mustang grumbled, after a minute of creative swearing and attempts to free his ear. “They at least have the decency not to go for the tender spots.” Edward smiled, not bothering to hide how thoroughly entertained he was by Mustang’s indignation at being bit. “Don’t let Alphonse hear you say that. He might love all animals, but he gets a bit dramatic if you insult cats.” Mustang threw back his head and laughed, startling Edward. He’d never heard Mustang really laugh, and it was a bit overwhelming, like the sun shining on a snowy day. Edward was suddenly overcome with the desire to make him laugh like that more often. “I can only imagine, considering how he ran back into a burning building to rescue them.” Mustang remarked, still chuckling, and it was all Edward could do to nod in agreement in his current state. It should be illegal for Mustang to laugh like that. “What’s so funny?” Sheska suddenly asked, walking into the living room with Winry following close behind. Edward shook his head, to clear it, before giving the girls a smile. “Alphonse’s extreme love for cats.” He answered, pointedly not looking at Mustang. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew that looking at Mustang with Winry in the room after witnessing him laugh, would make him feel over-exposed. “Or rather, Fullmetal’s understatement on how much Alphonse loves cats.” Mustang amended, his voice laced with amusement, and Edward felt his face grow warm for some inexplicable reason. “Well,” Winry began, shooting Edward a knowing look, which only made him blush harder. “Alphonse’s love of cats aside, dinner’s ready, so you better hurry if you want any food.” Edward instantly stood up, grateful for an excuse to

* * *

 

** Roy’s POV  **

Roy was an ass, an absolutely certifiable, ass, and he was well aware of this fact. 

Edward had set his plate down in front of a chair at the dinner table, before leaving to grab napkins, so naturally, Roy moved his plate and had stolen his chair. It was completely petty, but Edward’s reaction was what motivated him to do it. He had such a way with words when he was riled up, that Roy was positive he would be able to formulate a scathing insult using nothing but compliments. It was one of the things that Roy liked best about Edward. 

Winry of course seemed to know exactly what he was doing judging by her knowing look, and Roy winked at her, before pointedly looking towards Sheska. They were in the same boat after all. 

“You’re in my seat.” Edward suddenly said irritably, pulling Roy out of his silent conversation with Winry. 

Roy affected an expression of mild surprise. “Oh? I didn’t realize we had assigned seats. Is there a seating chart I should be aware of?” He asked, enjoying the way Edward’s eye twitched in frustration. 

“My plate was there, you ass! That should be enough to tell you that I was sitting there.” Edward spat angrily, unfooled by his feigned ignorance. 

Roy clucked his tongue disapprovingly. “You shouldn’t cuss in front of the children, Fullmetal.” He said, tacking on the familiar name he reserved just for Edward. It had started off as a way to get a reaction out of him when they’d first met, but it had since developed into an affectionate nickname on his part. 

Edward looked like he was seconds away from punching him in the face. “The only child here is you!” he hissed. 

Roy smirked, thoroughly entertained. “Why don’t you just sit over there?” he asked, gesturing to the last empty seat with his fork. 

“Because.” Edward replied, drawing out the word as though he were talking to an idiot. “That seat is between Izumi and Sig, and you don’t sit in between them unless you want to be caught in the middle of a love fest. The fact that there’s even a seat separating them worry’s me.” 

Roy nodded sympathetically. “Good luck.” he wished Edward dramatically, as though he were heading off to war. The chilling look Edward gave him was definitely worth it. 

Instead of heading over to the empty seat however, Edward shot Roy a look that gave him a bad feeling. There was no way this was going to end well on his part. 

He was quickly proven right when Edward suddenly plopped down onto his lap and began eating dinner as though he weren’t sitting on someone. 

Roy choked down a laugh as the full extent of the situation hit him; Edward was sitting on him because he’d refused to switch seats. If that wasn’t the most immature thing Roy had ever witnessed, he was a bullfrog. 

“Could you pass me a roll, Fullmetal?” He asked after a moment, deciding that if Edward was playing it casual, he would do the same. It wasn’t as if the situation was unpleasant, quite the opposite in fact, so he saw no reason to object. Though he couldn’t say the thought of dropping his knees and watching Edward fall on his ass hadn’t crossed his mind. 

Edward wordlessly transferred a roll to his plate, and out of the corner of his eye, Roy saw Alphonse shaking with silent laughter. Beside him, Winry and Sheska were in a similar state, and Roy finally allowed a small smile to grace his face. If everyone else found the situation as hilarious as he did, then he found no reason to hide his amusement. 

Roy carefully maneuvered around Edward and began eating as well, enjoying the incredible meal. 

“So,” Mrs. Curtis suddenly said, breaking the silence that had accumulated after his and Edward’s argument. “Are you the stalker, or the jackass?” 

Roy blinked, startled, both by the sudden line of questioning, and Mrs. Curtis’ casual use of profanity. Edward had referred to Maes as a stalker often enough for him to understand that Edward had likely mentioned them in passing, but that still left the question as to why Mrs. Curtis would ever ask him that. 

“He’s the jackass.” Edward answered, before Roy had a chance to even fully understand what he was being asked. 

Roy nodded in agreement. That was fair. 

Mrs. Curtis smiled, clearly amused. “Well then you should feel right at home hanging around Edward.” She told him, fondness wrapping around words that otherwise would’ve been biting. 

“Oi!” Edward squaked indignantly, and Roy had to refrain from laughing. He really shouldn’t antagonize the person sitting on him, no matter how much he may want to. 

“I’m sorry, but who was it that blew up the school’s chemistry lab just to prove a kid, who wasn’t even in your class, wrong?” Alphonse asked, and this time Roy couldn’t contain his laughter. 

He soon paid for it of course when Edward elbowed him in the stomach, but he couldn’t say it wasn’t worth it. 

* * *

The rest of dinner had gone (quite surprisingly) without any more incidents, and Roy soon found himself walking home. It had been nice spending time at Edward’s house, and getting to interact with him without Riza there to roll her eyes at his every word. 

She didn’t approve of his constant antagonization of Edward, and was very expressive of it. Then again, she also didn’t approve of the level of procrastination he saved for his homework assignments, but he wasn’t about to stop either one. Really she should know by now that her disapproval only served to encourage him.That isn’t to say that he didn’t take her advice though. Riza had saved his ass on more than one occasion with her very helpful advice (read, threats of bodily harm if he didn’t do as she said) but when it came to interacting with homework and a certain blond, well he listened to no one. 

Naturally though, he probably should, as he’d get better results if he did listen to Riza, or almost anyone else with half a brain. However, Roy had to act a certain way towards nearly everyone else, in order to maintain an illusion. To the student population; he had to be a suave, womanizing, jock, to the teachers; he had to appear smart and charismatic, but lazy, and to his hockey team; he had to appear skilled and authoritative. 

With so many facades to maintain, he took great joy in in just being who he wanted to be. Neither Edward, nor homework entertained any grand impression of him, quite the opposite in fact, so there was no harm done if he appeared to them to be a petulant child. Naturally, he liked to think it was more endearing than annoying, but he was self aware enough to know that that was not the case. 

So wrapped up was he in his inner monologue, that Roy didn’t notice he’d taken a wrong turn, until he crashed into the back wall of an alley. The collision hurt quite a bit, and Roy barely refrained from emitting a string of profanity. He hardly needed that added embarrassment of someone investigating, upon hearing pained swearing, and having to explain himself, after bruising both his body and his dignity on a wall. 

Roy quickly turned around, planning on exiting the alley and hoping no one witnessed his mistake, only to see a silhouette standing at the exit. Apparently his lack of profanity wasn’t enough to keep someone from investigating . 

With what he hoped was a charming smile, Roy smoothed back his hair, and begun walking towards the figure. “I’m afraid I took a wrong turn.” He explained, allowing good natured amusement to lace his tone. If he could laugh at his mistakes, then at least other people could laugh with him, instead of at him. 

The figure said nothing however, and instead advanced towards him, coming incredibly close, and suddenly Roy felt fear snake its way up his spine. 

Before he could act on it however, a sharp, agonizing pain pierced his left side. Roy couldn’t stop the pained cry, torn from his throat, nor could he stop his knees from giving out. On reflex, he put his hand to the source of his pain, only for black spots to dance before his eyes, obscuring the faceless figure in front of him. He could feel a distinctive warm wetness through the haze of pain however, and suddenly it all made sense. 

The last thing he remembered before passing out, was coming to the realization that he had been stabbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry...okay not really, however I will do my best not to leave you on that cliffhanger for long.

**Author's Note:**

> So updates will be a bit sporadic, but i have no plans on abandoning this story. Please let me know if you enjoyed this and thank you for reading.


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